Will the sun rise in India?

Photo taken at Kaziranga National Park, Kanchanjuri - Assam

Modi's India has become a dangerous place for Muslims. Polarisation has intensified over the last six years in India and Muslims and Dalits have been targets of lynchings by Hindu activists in the name of protecting cows, a long-standing Hindu preoccupation. 

Ever since Modi has been re-elected as Prime Minister with an even bigger majority, the government has been out there to fulfil long-standing Hindu nationalist demands to further marginalise minorities in India. 

The Citizen Amendment Act was one of those. It is one such step which completely violates the  non-discriminatory spirit of the Constitution. A version of this exercise was carried out in Assam with disastrous effects. Roughly, 1.9 million Assamese were declared non-citizens and will now have to undergo long appeal requests in special courts that function poorly.

The recent spread of coronavirus by the Tablighi Jamaat is being looked through a communal lens. While I completely agree with the stupidity and irreversible effects that their congregation has led to, mainstream media has left no stone unturned in giving the pandemic a religious connotation. 

I, as a Muslim and a citizen of India don't feel safe in my own country. It's a shame. 

COVID-19's relief package has gaping holes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown in a bid to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus for India's 1.3 billion people. With just 4 hours' notice, the government instructed everyone to remain in their homes, banned public events, closed schools and institutions and shut commercial outlets across the country.

However, the move to prevent community transmission is having an enormous impact on those most in need in India - the hundreds of millions who live in poverty. 

The federal government had announced direct cash transfers to poorer households, mainly through existing government schemes. The Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman announced a relief package, a step in the right direction. However, there are a gaping holes in it. 

For instance, the relief package builds on food grains and cash transfers. Food grain rations would be doubled for an initial 3 month period with an addition of pulses to the PDS. However, there are many poor who are still excluded from the PDS. The GoI is still using 2011 population figures to calculate state-wise PDS coverage. Secondly, the PDS has been found to be corrupt owing to poor coordination, low administrative accountability, and diversion of PDS supplies from the system.

Cash-transfer amounts are very small. The PMGKP allocation of INR 31,000 Cr for transfers to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts covers a monthly allowance of INR 500 for approximately 20 Cr recipients for an initial 3 month period. It is impossible for an average size family (of four) to survive on INR 500 for a month.

Whether it is food or cash - the disbursement process and system will be a huge challenge. With everyday proving to be a living challenge for the poor, how far has the GoI gone to ensure that ration and cash has reached the people?

Yellows of Pondicherry

Photo taken in White Town - Pondicherry