How accessible are our Urban Spaces? https://morungexpress.com/how-accessible-are-our-urban-spaces 19th August 2025 Small street vendors – predominantly women from neighbouring villages of urban areas – play a vital role in the urban economy by supplying essential daily goods, including seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as locally sourced and wild produce.
Inadequate infrastructure and mismanagement only compound the daily struggles faced by women street vendors.
Despite their critical role in sustaining the local economy and providing essential goods, these women continue to work under precarious and undignified conditions, with little institutional recognition or support.
Poor and basic infrastructures also create layered disparities and subtle forms of exploitation when it comes to accessing vending spaces even among small vendors. ..Without institutional support or local connections, these itinerant vendors frequently face marginalisation – not only from authorities but sometimes from fellow vendors as well – highlighting the complex hierarchies and inequalities that exist even within the informal economy.
Urban spaces are increasingly becoming indifferent to the presence and needs of women vendors who play a crucial role in sustaining the local economy
There is an urgent need to reimagine urban planning and governance in ways that actively include marginalised communities
The constitutional amendment bill, if passed, will give additional powers to the Union government to remove a chief minister or anyone in their cabinet. The three proposed bills are scheduled to be tabled in the parliament on August 20.
The amendment allows the governors of states and lieutenant generals of Union territories to sack a chief minister or any state minister if they are detained in jail for 30 days, even if not convicted. The amendment also applies to the prime minister, giving the power to sack him or her to the president of India – though the possibility of a Union government law enforcement agency arresting the person who controls them and keeping them in jail for 30 days is zero.
by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
20/08/2025
'How document deficits may risk disenfranchising the poor, eroding trust in the Election Commission'
How document deficits may risk disenfranchising the poor, eroding trust in the Election Commission' https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/how-document-deficits-may-risk-disenfranchising-the-poor-eroding-trust-in-the-election-commission/article69940899.ece
New Lokniti-CSDS survey reveals steep fall in public trust in ECI https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/new-lokniti-csds-survey-reveals-steep-fall-in-public-trust-in-eci Survey also flags disenfranchisement risk for poorer and marginalised citizens due to Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The data revealed striking disparities in document possession across class and caste lines. Aadhaar coverage was nearly universal, but access to other forms of identification varied widely. Nine in ten respondents from the general category reported owning a PAN card, compared with just over half among Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Possession of passports was extremely limited, with only one in five in the general category holding one, and a mere 5 per cent among SCs and 4 per cent among STs.
Birth certificate coverage was even lower. Fewer than half of respondents in any caste group had one, and among SCs the figure dropped to about one in four. At the household level, only one in ten poor families reported that all adult members had birth certificates. Wealth gaps were also evident — nearly half of respondents in the highest income group possessed passports, compared to just one in 20 among the poor.