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Social Movements Archive
Notes on social movements in India and abroad
Thanks to my engagement with campaigns working on hunger, education, corruption, health, peace and other issues, I have had an active interest in collective action and its role in the society. The following articles are based on my experience with these campaigns (mainly right to food and the right to information campaigns in India). There are also a few articles that look at literature on this subject, as well as a selection of interesting talks and documentaries.
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Need for public service mobile application foundation for India
Posted on November 8, 2011 | No CommentsDuring my last visit to India, I participated in a few meetings on questions such as strengthening the right information act, the role of the PDS, and other social issues. In all these meetings there was a vigorous debate on how mobile phones could be used on each of these issues given the rapid spread of mobiles in rural India. Despite periodic discussion about the use of technology, I did not hear viable ideas among my activist friends. I believe that this is in part because most of them are not advanced users of technology, and they have definitely not... -
Rights based approach to development: Lessons from India’s Right to Food Campaign
Posted on September 28, 2011 | No CommentsIn April 2001 People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) approached the Supreme Court of India arguing that the government has a duty to provide greater relief in the context of mass hunger. The litigation has now become the best known precedent on the right to food internationally. This paper reviews the litigation with a view to understand various strategies used by the litigants to create and enforce far-reaching entitlements in a near legal vacuum on the right to food. This is followed by a discussion on the lessons from this case for rights based approach to development at large. Citation:... -
From fractions to millions: Getting more people to challenge corruption using mobile phones
Posted on September 22, 2011 | 1 CommentAn initiative to use mobile phones to combat corruption in programmes that matter to the poorest people in India. -
Corruption in the PDS & will coupons or cash transfer work better?
Posted on May 26, 2011 | 2 CommentsThis is a part of a series of articles on the proposal to shift from PDS to coupons or cash transfers. To see the introduction, click here . The level of corruption in the public distribution system has been one of the rallying points in the cry for change. The following are some of the corruption related arguments for change: There is large scale corruption in the system It is undeniable that there is a lot of corruption in the PDS, and something needs to be done about it. In arguing that we should shift from PDS to coupons or... -
Shifting from PDS to coupons or cash transfers: Assorted arguments
Posted on May 26, 2011 | No CommentsThis is a part of a series of articles on the proposal to shift from PDS to coupons or cash transfers. To see the introduction, click here . Please read other articles in this topic before getting here… The cost of administering the PDS is high Some economists have pointed out that the cost of administering the PDS is very high, and it is now possible to transfer cash to people at a cheaper rate. This is one of the strongest arguments for a shift from PDS to cash transfers, in my opinion. The amount of money that could be... -
Understanding Tamil Nadu’s commitment to public services: An institutional perspective
Posted on December 31, 2010 | No CommentsMy doctoral dissertation on the question of why Tamil Nadu has an impressive commitment to providing basic public services such as roads, water, electricity and education. -
Creating a Yelp for the government
Posted on October 13, 2010 | No CommentsIn 2004 website called yelp.com was created to help people find local businesses such as small restaurants, salons, etc. The idea of the website was simple. Any user or a business can locate itself on the map and provide basic information about itself. For example, a restaurant could describe itself and provide its menu and other details, and any user could review the organisation. Someone who is looking for a service, e.g. salon in a particular area, can now search easily for all salons by the price, services and reviews. What yelp does is to enable people anyone to find... -
Politics, technology & accountability II
Posted on July 27, 2009 | No Comments“To be ruled is to be kept an eye on, inspected, spied on, regulated, indoctrinated, sermonized, listed and checked off, estimated, appraised, censured, ordered about…to be ruled is at every operation, transaction, movement, to be noted, registered, counted, priced, admonished, prevented, reformed, redressed, corrected”. Proudhon quoted by James Scott in Seeing like a state. The power of information is often used by those in powerful positions to control others. The right to information movement inverts this principle and turns the gaze on those in positions of power by making their actions visible and thus amenable to democratic control. Sharing information... -
Politics, technology & accountability I
Posted on July 26, 2009 | No CommentsIs accountability a political problem on which technology cannot have an impact? Some thoughts. -
Usability: Giving information is not enough
Posted on July 16, 2009 | No CommentsData, data everywhere, not a bit to use: Why the Budget website is informative but nearly useless, and how to make it usable The Government of India (GoI) has an informative website with all budget speeches and the complete set of budget proposals. Consider these simple questions: 1. Which department got the highest outlay? 2. What has happened to expenditure on child-related schemes over the last 10 years? 3. Which states are getting money for laying roads? 4. Which states have not used allotted money for primary education? 5. Do reserved constituencies get less allocation? These are reasonable questions people...
