west bengal

Just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown from March 24, states like Punjab and Telangana were looking forward to a bumper harvest and smiles on the faces of their farmers. And on the faces of the owners and workers in West Bengal’s labour intensive jute mills. But the lockdown dashed everyone’s hopes. Farmers are unsure of how and who will procure their products. Especially given the acute lack of jute bags, given the complete shut down of West Bengal’s jute industry, putting lakhs of its workers out of jobs and income. It is during harvest time…

Kolkata Uttar Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following assembly constituencies: Chowranghee, Entally, Beleghata, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Maniktala, Kashipur and Belgachhia. The constituency came into being after a delimitation exercise in 2008. The two Lok Sabha elections contested since have seen candidates of the Trinamool Congress (AITC) emerge as the victor. A total of 21 candidates are contesting from various political parties and as independents from Kolkata Uttar parliamentary constituency. According to the CEO, West Bengal, the constituency has a total voter strength of 14,43,818 -- 794275 male, 649528 female and 15 of other gender. [flexiblemap src="http://data.opencity.in/Data/West-Bengal-Parliament-Constituency-Kolkata-North-Map-V-1.kml" width="100%" height="400px" ] Note –…

ADR has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 967 out of 979 candidates, who are contesting in the sixth phase of the ongoing general elections, scheduled for May 12th. Topping the list of crorepatis is Jyotiraditya M. Scindia fighting from Guna constituency of Madhya Pradesh with a Congress ticket. He possesses assets worth Rs 374 crore. Second on the list is Gautam Gambhir with assets over Rs 147 crore. The former national-level cricketer also has the highest liabilities (among Phase 6 candidates) of over Rs 34 crore and highest annual income of over Rs 12 crore for financial year 2017-18 as…

The news on gender ratios in urban India is not only bad, it is also getting worse. In May 2018, a study published by Lancet disclosed that 239,000 girls below five die in India every year. Census 2011 documents that the worst Child Sex Ratios  are found in the cities.  The declining graph over the decades shows that urban Indian gender ratios are more skewed than rural Bharat's, with an average of 902 girls per 1,000 boys between 0-6 years in the cities, compared to 923 girls in rural India. The urban figures have pulled down the national average to 918.  The worst city…

For Tinku Biswas, the idea of attending a three-day training workshop in an IIT was like a dream. No, Tinku is not an engineer, though she is a sort of a trailblazer in her own way, being a rare woman owner and manager of a motor training school on the outskirts of Kolkata city. But she was not going to the premier technology institute for any tech training. Tinku was chosen to attend a workshop conducted for driving school owners and trainers as part of a programme jointly initiated by the Transport Department of the Government of West Bengal and…

Climatic and non-climatic factors intersect and create an entire tribe of marginalized and vulnerable people. Incidentally they form a large proportion of the informal economy of Bengaluru and other cities. This photo essay looks at the living and working conditions of one of the most marginalized groups in Bengaluru namely the waste pickers. The focus is on those who live in undeclared, blue tent, temporary squatter settlements. Our field research revealed that most of the inhabitants in these settlements are migrants from West Bengal, a distinct region in the East of India. For the residents of the informal settlements that…