By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam Food subsidisation and public distribution systems are the cornerstone for the assessment and eradication of food insecurity in India. While the Government of India passed the National Food Security Bill, the Government of Karnataka has implemented a revised food distribution system, known as the Anna Bhagya Yojana from May 2015. Under…
And I was ordained a Jenukuruba…
July 19, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam Caste and religion has today become an inseparable part of the daily discourse. Whether it is a discussion around a marriage in the family, or renting out one’s house or the politics of the nation, we seem to have reconciled to this being a part of our DNA. While some of…
Seeing God in Man…
July 5, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam This incident happened a few years ago. I was walking towards Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama in Mysore and was waiting at a signal-light to cross the road. Being a 4-way junction, the wait seemed to be a long one. It was then that I noticed a middle-aged woman selling bananas by the…
The joy of giving…
June 25, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. — Kahlil Gibran Running a non-profit is not as easy as it sounds. Apart from the image that the sector generates, the constant uncertainties of funding and resource mobilisation, the lack of high-quality talent, the changing demands of…
A citizen’s letter to the Chief Minister…
June 7, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam Dear Chief Minister, Last week saw a mega ‘tamasha’ unfold in our city of Mysuru by your Government… I am sure your officers would not have told you that the main arterial thoroughfares of Mysuru were blocked with buses coming in from all directions putting the city into disarray. Each of…
The transformation of Chikkaputti
May 24, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam Many years ago, I ran chasing young Manjula (whom I used to fondly call Chikkaputti), a 7-year-old Jenukuruba tribal girl. She was determined to escape being caught and was trying her desperate best to avoid coming to our school. Not someone who would give up easily, I went after her as…
Discontent with Democracy and the AAP experiment…
May 10, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam Towards the end of December 2014, a lot of people asked me if I would be joining Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Having been a key person in Karnataka in the crusade against corruption that Anna Hazare had led, many had presumed that I would also automatically gravitate…
Learning ‘fair & compassionate economics’ from a Jenukuruba Chieftain…
April 26, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam It was the year 1989 and was around the time that I was slowly beginning to understand the indigenous way of life. These were also some of the best years of my life and I cherish the memories of my association with some of the elderly tribal chieftains of Heggadadevanakote (H.D….
Water: Whose business is it anyway?
April 12, 2017By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam Last week on my early morning walk, I could not resist the temptation of walking up to a middle-aged woman washing the entrance to her house. She seemed to be oblivious to any concerns of water scarcity and was pouring large quantities of precious fresh water onto the concrete walkway leading…
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