Economic and Political Weekly

22/07/2025

Special Article | India is among the frontline countries experiencing a declining female s*x ratio over the years.
https://www.epw.in/journal/2025/14/special-articles/linkage-between-child-s*x-ratio-and-dowry-related.html

22/07/2025

2024 | As the Syrian kaleidoscope recasts its pieces, its multiple communities and people remain stoic in the face of the renewed great game in Syria and West Asia.

Anuradha Chenoy writes:The 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty in Syria is over and the last President Bashar al-Assad is exiled in Moscow. Historically coveted by the contesting forces of Islam, the Crusaders, Ottomans, and having gone through the politics of colonial partitions, Syria is once again....

22/07/2025

While qualitative analysis helps us understand the processes that lead to coordinated and systematic group violence against Dalits, the context-specific substantive findings may be strengthened and integrated using insights from recent quantitative studies using large-scale national-level datasets from India. Such inquiries have unequivocally shown that declining gaps in economic status between Dalits and upper castes have led to the perpetration of caste violence in India.

The paper by Suman Damera and A Chandrashekar Reddy, “Crime and (No) Punishment: The Paradox of Dalit Assertion and Caste Violence in TelanThe paper by Suman Damera and A Chandrashekar Reddy, “Crime and (No) Punishment: The Paradox of Dalit Assertion and Caste Violence in Telangana” (EPW, 1 Ju...

22/07/2025

Social group-based disparities in changes in India’s multidimensional poverty index are examined, using harmonised definitions across three rounds of National Family Health Surveys conducted in 2005–06, 2015–16, and 2019–21. Utilising an unconventional classification of social groups, the analysis reveals a decrease in absolute levels of poverty headcount across all groups, but with growing disparities. The group with the highest initial poverty level in 2005–06—Scheduled Tribes—experienced the slowest decrease in poverty, while the group with the lowest initial poverty rate—General Hindus—saw the fastest decline. This has resulted in the gradual concentration of poverty among socio-religious minorities.

With the world’s largest population living in poverty (230 million, or 20.7% of 1.1 billion in the global South),1 India faces a signifiWith the world’s largest population living in poverty (230 million, or 20.7% of 1.1 billion in the global South),1 India faces a significant challenge (UNDP and...

22/07/2025

The coexistence of a complex set of legal orders forms the basis for the study of legal pluralism, encompassing state law, customary law, and other non-state laws.

The khap panchayats in Haryana, serving as traditional social entities, have historically assumed quasi-judicial roles in resolving disputes and regulating social behaviour. Despite facing legal challenges for deviating from the rule of law, scholarly attention has focused on their evolving relation...

22/07/2025

The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe consequences for the Indian labour market. However, its effects have been experienced differently across ages and genders. Using emerging longitudinal data, we examined who were hit the hardest?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe consequences for the Indian labour market. However, its effects have been experienced differently across ages and genders. Using emerging longitudinal data, we examined who were hit the hardest? We found that young people (versus older adults) and women (versus m...

22/07/2025

2024: Excerpts from EPW Articles on Films

Image Image Image ​Read the articles to know more about the films featured above:   Kaathal—The Core : ‘Queer’ Malayalam Cinema? | Anu Kuriakose Space, Love, and Multispecies Entanglements in Pariyerum Perumal | Antony Jacob Sebastian The Winds Know It All : Climate Change, Disasters and Vu...

21/07/2025

The deep natural, social, and cultural processes involved in the making and unmaking of environment and labour in a caste-capitalist economy impact people’s sense of freedom, belonging, and values.

This article discusses the interrelationship between environmental justice, caste, and liberalisation. The deep natural, social, and cultural processes involved in the making and unmaking of environment and labour in a caste-capitalist economy impact people’s sense of freedom, belonging, and value...

21/07/2025

Special Article | Air pollution is a serious environmental issue in cities like Beijing (China) and Delhi (India) and the governments in both countries have taken several measures to address it.

Air pollution has become a serious health concern in many cities across the globe, particularly in rapidly developinAir pollution has become a serious health concern in many cities across the globe, particularly in rapidly developing urban centres like Delhi (India) and Beijing (China). Several stud...

21/07/2025

This is based on the article 'The Hunger Crisis: Measuring Hunger across Indian States' by Amrita Pal, Atanu Ghosh, Shoummo Sen Gupta and Samiran Bisai.

Based on the article The Hunger Crisis: Measuring Hunger across Indian States by Amrita Pal, Atanu Ghosh, Shoummo Sen Gupta and Samiran Bisai.   Curated by Divya Jyoti [[email protected]] and Mruguja ChuriDesigned by akankshya [[email protected]]

21/07/2025

EPW Engage | This article focuses on the need to study and learn from regional experiences where procurement at minimum support price has been effective and its impact on the private markets.

This article focuses on the need to study and learn from regional experiences where procurement at minimum support price has been effective and its impact on the private markets. Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, for wheat, has some lessons to offer. The prices offered at the vibrant regulated mandis,...

21/07/2025

EPW Engage | The Government of India has made employment-led development one of its key goals in this year’s Budget. Which sectors should the Government select in the non-agricultural sector if the goal was to maximise employment only? This essay proposes a selection criterion. Using two parameters- share of sectoral employment and employment intensity the sectors are ranked separately. There are 14 sectors, which fall in the ‘high’ categories of both the parameters- share of non-agricultural workers and employment intensity. One can further narrow down the choice of sectors by just going down the rank or using an additional parameter (employment multiplier. Manufacture of wearing apparel except custom tailoring, hotels & restaurants and trade are some of the sectors that emerge as key to maximise employment.

The Government of India has made employment-led development one of its key goals in this year’s Budget. Which sectors should the Government select in the non-agricultural sector if the goal was to maximise employment only? This essay proposes a selection criterion. Using two parameters- share of s...