Rakesh

Child labour is indeed a curse to our society and a crime against humanity. Although more prevalent in developing countries, it is definitely a universal phenomenon. Thousands of children all over the Western World work in fast food centres, gas stations, newspaper selling, cleaning of cars, in garment and leather factories. They have to grind bricks and stones. They work as street hawkers. Sometimes they become pickpockets as well. They also work as bus conductors or labourers in small factories and polish boots. They even work in houses as male/female servants. In most cases, the masters and housewives are very harsh to them. They do not even regard them as humans. Though acute poverty is the main cause of child labour throughout the world; everybody – society, parents, government, individuals, low wages, unemployment, poor standard of living, deep social prejudices and backwardness are directly responsible for child labour in our country. Yash Pandey from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, ha...

  ‘Social endosmosis’ is what is needed right now... We need a free exchange of ideas and experiences of all social groups and they're coming together for a common agenda to fight the disease. Empathy and solidarity are the cornerstones of social endosmosis. ‘Social distancing’ in India is turning a crisis into an opportunity to widen societal inequalities. Recently, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India to issue directions to discontinue the use of the term ‘social distancing’ in government circulars because of its connotation to the centuries-old practice of ‘untouchability, and replace it with ‘physical distancing’, ‘individual distancing’ or ‘disease distancing’. However, the Supreme Court  disposed  of the petition without making any order on the plea and thus, chose to be insensitive and apathetic towards those in the lower rung of the society. Social distancing finds familiarity in India as it mirrors the age-old custom of social stratification of lo...