SWaCH Pune Seva Sahakari Sanstha (SWaCH) is a fully member-owned waste pickers’ cooperative https://prizeforcities.org/project/swach-pune-seva-sahakari-sanstha . In Pune, door-to-door services covered only 7% of households. SWaCH signed its first agreement with the Pune Municipal Corporation in 2008: its members would extend door-to-door solid waste collection to at least 50% of Pune, and the city would fund administrative staff time, equipment and health benefits. In the SWaCH model, pairs of members collect segregated waste from 150‐400 households each, transferring recyclables and wet waste to city-run collection vehicles. Members make money through user fees collected directly from household and commercial clients and by selling recyclables to scrap dealers.
A Brief History of Pune’s Waste pickers https://kashtakaripanchayat.org/a-comprehensive-history-of-waste-picking-in-pune/
Rosamma: Comments There is a petition circulating about the imminent end of the current model of waste collection in Pune, seeking signatures to support the group managing the city waste. I wanted to explain why I will not be signing, please. I worked briefly with Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), the collective of waste pickers and recyclers, and my experience was not inspiring. The women in top leadership positions were all without exception Brahmin, and there appeared to be not much empathy for the workers -- if the workers missed paying membership fees, they were deprived of what benefits they would otherwise receive, like free notebooks for their school going children, or even solidarity from the group in times of domestic violence.
When I worked there, one young woman accountant was hired -- she was given a cycle, and expected to ride a few km to the residence of the woman who was authorized to sign cheques to get her signature. This young accountant, I found, would cycle even during her monthly period, since no reimbursement of auto fares was offered.
Poornima, the retired academic who was the spirit behind the group, was genuinely generous and often offered donations to tide over difficult times, but appeared to be sidelined when it came to decision-making.
The group was quite successful in getting good press, and I suspect I was hired with the intention of getting some leverage with the press. I could not be writing as a journalist while working with them, and I realize I was then not much use. The workers lived in deplorable shanties, some of them in low-lying areas prone to floods; there was one well-designed small house that had been constructed by the group that would feature in news reports.
What these workers ideally need is regular jobs with decent salaries. This is important work, and it needs to be done regularly, so they ought to be hired as regular government staff. KKPKP would stop short of making that demand, arguing that it would never be granted. In truth, government jobs for these workers would make the highest-paid of KKPKP redundant.
content creator deletes video promoting religious harmony, apologises https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/maharashtra-after-backlash-from-brahmin-group-content-creator-deleted-video-promoting-religious-harmony-apologises-10211280/ In the now-deleted reel, Sudame buys an idol from a Muslim vendor, saying.. “While making the Ganpati you had good intentions in your heart, right? My father says we should be like sugar that sweetens both shev kheer as well as sheer khurma, like a brick that makes both a mandir and a masjid, like a flower that is used in a garland as well as a chaddar (holy sheet) as well.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x85Cqo-roYc Atharva Sudame Controversy Video: अथर्व सुदामेच्या 'या' व्हिडीओमुळे त्याने माफी मागितली...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuPyBJl7v1c https://youtu.be/XuPyBJl7v1c?t=194 the argument is that each religion should be in their own silos. "There is no need" for showing and encouraging inter-faith synergy.
https://youtu.be/XuPyBJl7v1c?t=194 their argument is that each religion should be in their own silos. "There is no need" for showing and encouraging inter-faith synergy. He says That Sarva Dharma Sambhav means that each religion is given its own space, and that there is no need for followers on one religion should get involved in the practices, and processes of the other.. It is this logic that we can address. How each of us will loose out if we dont allow in good things from all directions..
आनो भद्राः क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वत: | ऋग्वेद – 1.89.
Election of candidates can be set aside if they make false declaration on educational qualifications: SC https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india-election-of-candidates-can-be-set-aside-if-they-make-false-declaration-on-educational-qualifications-sc-354849
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that election of a candidate could be set aside if he/she is found to have made false declaration on educational qualifications in the nomination paper. The Supreme Court bench further said that the right to vote would be meaningless unless citizens were well-informed about the antecedents of candidates, including their educational qualifications.
Upto now.. what was the posotion
Report No. 244 :
(iii) Current legal consequences on false disclosure
if a complaint is submitted regarding furnishing of false information, supported by documentary evidence, the Returning Officer should initiate action to prosecute the candidate under Section 125A of the RPA which provides penalty for filing false affidavits.90 A candidate who fails to furnish the required information, gives false information or conceals any information, may be punished with imprisonment for a term up to six months or with fine or with both.
Election Commission's letter No. 3/ER/2004-JS-II, dated 02.06.2004. says .. Section 125A of the RPA has not been included in the list of offences under Section 8 of the RPA. This means that a conviction under Section 125A does not lead to disqualification of the candidate for the duration of imprisonment and a further period of 6 years.
Azadi (2025)- The Fight Was Never Over | Mushtaque Khan | AKRAM KHAN | Noble Reel Production - The fight was Never O https://youtu.be/_mnyaAOsS2Y?si=OuZgLegHDEMDs2z7 Azadi is a hard-hitting psychological thriller wrapped in a socio-political lens. It explores the fragile lines between perception and reality, faith and fear, family and fanaticism. With a nerve-wracking build-up and an explosive climax, Azadi challenges the dangerous power of prejudice — and asks: What does true freedom really mean?
Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Perspectives on Combatting Misogyny and Patriarchy https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/en/blog/countering-misogyny-and-patriarchy-in-religious-nationalisms-hindu-muslim-christian-and-jewish-perspectives the political ideology that seeks to create a Hindu-supremacist state, distorts Hindu teachings to uphold misogyny and control. Where Hindu philosophy venerates the feminine as shakti—the source of life itself—Hindutva reduces women to symbols of honor to be protected or controlled.. “If we are truly people of faith and conscience, then we cannot be silent while entire communities are being massacred. Whether in Sudan, India, Kashmir, or Gaza, the call is the same: to stand together for life, for dignity, and for freedom.” https://youtu.be/cz-2_VD5er0
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' 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.
battle lines?or armaments flow? Eighteen days after gunmen killed 26 civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir’s resort town of Pahalgam, nearly 1.6 billion people on either side of the border reeled under the fears of another India-Pakistan war over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region claimed in full by both the nations that rule over parts of it. 11th May 2025
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/12/india-pakistan-ceasefire-kashmir-conflict/
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