Relevant beyond prison and pandemic: A career in incarceration studies

 

The discipline is underpinned and interlinked by four Cs of ‘big ideas’ about incarceration: culture, criminology, creative-critical practices, and community.

Though incarceration is often associated with imprisonment in jail or prison, the word has a host of contexts including historical slavery, pandemic lockdowns, and wartime camps, modern-day trafficking and even situations of domestic abuse.

Incarceration studies consider a range of these contexts and their cultures. Within such carceral environments, creativity has also flourished in diverse ways, whether in songs, poetry, art or memoirs, and has been documented and represented further in film, music and photography.

Relevance in the modern world

Students get to experience teaching, research and practical experiences that are linked by four ideas – culture, criminology, creativity, and community. As India develops its knowledge economy and moves away from a one size fits all education system, it places new value on critical thinking skills and passion, practicality and performance around learning.

As more students follow this study path it will lead to a wider variety of career opportunities as employers need to diversify the types of people they employ. These subjects will help drive innovation in the knowledge economy. Studying incarnation studies would have been unheard of even several years ago in India, but today presents graduates with a wealth of options for their future careers.

Four Cs of ‘big ideas’

The discipline is underpinned and interlinked by four Cs of ‘big ideas’ about incarceration: Culture, criminology, creative-critical practices, and community. The world is increasingly changing, and to meet the dynamics of the changing world, we need a varied course curriculum. Studying this area will give an understanding of the changing spectacle of the world, as it demands an upgraded outlook of its inhabitants.

Students are assessed through a mixed portfolio of assessments, including reflective writing, journalistic (blog) writing, report writing (including data analysis), audio podcasts, and more traditional essay and dissertation writing. Incarceration Studies subsequently produces enlightened, empowered and empathetic global communicators and researchers who are well-versed in processes and debates surrounding creative and cultural production in diverse carceral contexts.

Skill development and career opportunities

Incarceration Studies equip students with advanced analytical, research and writing skills, which will lead graduates to a wide range of workplaces. Such critical thinking skills, alongside the knowledge and practical experiences acquired, will enable graduates to pursue a wide range of careers in journalism, publishing, the prison, police and probation services, teaching, government agencies, and volunteer work both in India and globally.

Indeed, incarceration studies foster intellectual flexibility by transcending the constraints of regular disciplines. It combines literature, history, political science, international relations, film, music, visual arts, sociology, criminology and creative writing. Employers are impressed by such broad intellectual capabilities and the confidence that these generate. Moreover, the international angle of the programme is essential for employers because it fosters cross-cultural perspectives and thus critical awareness of multiculturalism, which enables students better to understand their place in an increasingly globalised world.

Indian employers particularly value practical experience as it can provide evidence of professionalism, adaptability and the attitudes and aptitudes which enable students to be effective in the workplace. The innovative discipline displays best practices that also include an international perspective and immersive experience. It is encouraged by employers in the criminal justice sector as these applicants can demonstrate a realistic understanding of the nature of the industry, provide first-hand insights into current issues and the challenges and opportunities these present.

Source: Indian Express, 6/12/21

What is ‘Greater Tipraland’ and why are tribal outfits in Tripura pushing for it

 

The demand has grown louder to carve out a separate state of 'Greater Tipraland' for the indigenous communities in Tripura under Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution.

Several tribal outfits in Tripura have joined hands to push their demand for a separate state for indigenous communities in the region, arguing that their “survival and existence” was at stake. They staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar on November 30 and December 1 with the demand, which at least three political parties – the Congress, Shiv Sena and AAP – have promised to take up with the Union government.

Among the political parties that have come together for the cause are TIPRA Motha (Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance) and IPFT (Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura), which had so far been rivals in the electoral fray.

What is their main demand?

The parties are demanding a separate state of ‘Greater Tipraland’ for the indigenous communities of the north-eastern state. They want the Centre to carve out the separate state under Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution. Among the 19 notified Scheduled Tribes in Tripura, Tripuris (aka Tipra and Tiprasas) are the largest. According to the 2011 census, there are at least 5.92 lakh Tripuris in the state, followed by Reangs (1.88 lakh) and Jamatias (83,000).

What does the Constitution say?

Article 2 of the Constitution deals with admission or establishment of new states. “Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions, as it thinks fit,” it states. Article 3 comes into play in the case of “formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States” by the Parliament.

How did the demand originate?

Tripura was a kingdom ruled by the Manikya dynasty from the late 13th century until the signing of the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on October 15, 1949.

The demand mainly stems from the anxiety of the indigenous communities in connection with the change in the demographics of the state, which has reduced them to a minority. It happened due to the displacement of Bengalis from the erstwhile East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. From 63.77 per cent in 1881, the population of the tribals in Tripura was down to 31.80 per cent by 2011. In the intervening decades, ethnic conflict and insurgency gripped the state, which shares a nearly 860-km long boundary with Bangladesh. The joint forum has also pointed out that the indigenous people have not only been reduced to a minority, but have also been dislodged from land reserved for them by the penultimate king of the Manikya dynasty Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman.

What has been done to address the grievances of indigenous communities?

The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) was formed under the sixth schedule of the Constitution in 1985 to ensure development and secure the rights and cultural heritage of the tribal communities. The TTADC, which has legislative and executive powers, covers nearly two-third of the state’s geographical area. The council comprises 30 members of which 28 are elected while two are nominated by the Governor. Also, out of the 60 Assembly seats in the state, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. ‘Greater Tipraland’ envisages a situation in which the entire TTADC area will be a separate state. It also proposes dedicated bodies to secure the rights of the Tripuris and other aboriginal commu

What was the immediate trigger for the dharna?

The churn in the state’s politics with the rise of TIPRA Motha and the Assembly polls due in early 2023 are the two major reasons behind the development. TIPRA Motha, led by Pradyot Debbarman who is the titular head of the royal family, won a majority in this year’s TTADC polls, leaving the IPFT, which is an ally of the ruling BJP, with a diminished influence.

In the lead up to the 2018 Assembly polls, the IPFT had captured the imagination of the tribal electorate as it aggressively campaigned with the demand for a separate state of “Twipraland”. After the elections, it joined the BJP-led Cabinet and lowered its pitch. In 2018, the Centre formed a 13-member committee to address tribal grievances. However, that committee has met only around three times in the last four years, according to an IPFT leader.

Pradyot has so far been successful in occupying the space vacated by the IPFT, leaving it with no choice but to join hands with him. During the two-day dharna, Congress MP Deepender Hooda, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh addressed the gathering of supporters at Jantar Mantar. Incidentally, Pradyot had quit the Congress in 2019 after serving as the working president of its Tripura unit.nities living outside Tripura.

Written by Sourav Roy Barman

Source: Indian Express, 6/12/21

Quote of the Day December 3, 2021

 

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
Mother Teresa

“मीठे बोल संक्षिप्त और बोलने में आसान हो सकते हैं, लेकिन उनकी गूंज सचमुच अनंत होती है।”
मां टेरेसा

How is IoT impacting the digital transformation of education?

 

Education 2.0

Until the pandemic struck, educational institutions in India used chalk and talk for lectures and a manual attendance process by using roll call and other administrative processes.

Topics like Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) were restricted to debates and academic discussions. But COVID-19 forced them to explore technological tools, something that other sectors had already done and reaped many benefits.

What is IoT?

It is an environment in which physical entities that have inbuilt sensors and software can exchange data and information automatically with each other without manual intervention over the Internet. This has the potential to dramatically transform the process of learning and also update administrative systems. Some of the uses have been listed below:

Tracking movement: Integrated systems of IoT, which automatically transmits information about the child boarding the bus, the bus reaching the school and the child entering the school premises, can be available to both parents and teachers via an app and automated messages.

Attendance system: Teachers and faculty members need not waste time on roll call. Instead, the student’s identity card automatically communicates with the sensors in the classroom and marks attendance.

Automatic sharing: Taking notes and marking critical points is an integral part of a student’s class activity. But, with IoT, all the contents on the black/whiteboard is automatically converted into a portable document and shared over email.

Session capture: An IoT environment automatically captures a classroom session (audio and video) and puts it on a shareable drive. This can be accessed by those students who missed the class. This way learning becomes both inclusive and accessible.

Ensuring security: With COVID-19 still doing the rounds, an IoT-based system integrated with CCTVs can scan the campus and spot people who are not wearing masks. The coordinates can be sent as an SMS and a email to the administrative authority for further action.

Read and translate: IoT can also be used to quickly scan editable text from books, papers and other documents directly into a phone, tablet or computer and translate into more than 40 languages.

This allows students to read the content in the language they are comfortable with and to use the application to read and listen to the text.

Thus, using IoT in educational institutions allows a better connected and more collaborative and inclusive learning environment.

Ramakrishnan Raman

The writer is Professor and Director Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune

Source: The Hindu, 27/11/21

UGC extends thesis submission deadline for MPhil, PhD scholars till June 2022

 

The submission deadline has been extended till June 30 next year, according to officials.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted an extension to MPhil and PhD scholars for submission of thesis. The submission deadline has been extended till June 30 next year, according to officials.

“Keeping in view the larger interest of the research scholars, a further extension of six months beyond December 31 till June 30, 2022, for submission of the thesis by MPhil and PhD students may be granted by the universities. It is also notified that the extension for submission of thesis till June, shall be applicable to all such students whose due date of submission of the thesis is on or before June 30,” UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said in an official notice. 

“Extension of six months, as mentioned above, may also be granted for submitting evidence of publication and presentation in two conferences. However, tenure of fellowship will remain up to five years only,” he added.

Earlier, the commission had extended the submission deadline till December 2021, but now the research scholars have another six months to submit their thesis. “It is also notified that the extension for submission of MPhil/PhD thesis till June 2022 shall be applicable to all such students whose due date of submission of the thesis is on or before June 30, 2022,” it has added.

Source: Indian Express, 3/12/21

What’s in ART, Surrogacy Bills

 

Lok Sabha has passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, after the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill two years earlier. What is the difference, and how does the new Bill propose to regulate ART?

On Wednesday, Lok Sabha passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020, which makes provisions for the safe and ethical practice of assisted reproductive technology (ART) services in the country.

Another key bill to safeguard the reproductive rights of women — the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 — was passed by Lok Sabha on August 5, 2019. This one was referred to a Select Committee, which recommended that the ART Bill should be brought first, so that all the highly technical and medical aspects could subsequently be addressed in the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019.

What is the difference?

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill relates to surrogacy, an infertility treatment, where a third person, a woman, is the surrogate mother. In ART, treatments can be availed by the commissioning couple themselves and it is not always necessary that a third person is involved.

Surrogacy is allowed for only Indian married couples. ART procedures are open to married couples, live-in partners, single women, and also foreigners. A 2015 notification prohibits commissioning of surrogacy in India by foreigners or OCI or PIO cardholders, but NRIs holding Indian citizenship can avail surrogacy. Foreigners can visit India under medical tourism to avail ART services.

Under the Surrogacy Bill, there will be a National Surrogacy Board that will be involved in policymaking, and act as a supervisory body, and State Boards that will act as executive bodies. The ART Bill provides for a National Board, with the powers vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure.

According to the Health Ministry, the estimated number of clinics practising surrogacy in India is likely less than 1,000, while that of those practising ART is likely more than 40,000.

Why was the ART Bill felt necessary?

The growth of ART clinics in India is among the highest in the world, and these are a key part of medical tourism.  These offer gamete donation, intrauterine insemination, in-vitro- fertilisation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and pre-implantation genetic diagnostic.

India does not have standard protocols of ART clinics yet. Amid questions raised on their ethical, medical, and legal aspects, Lok Sabha passed the Bill that provides for regulation and supervision of ART clinics and ART banks.

What is an ART bank?

Under the Bill, ART will include all techniques that attempt to obtain a pregnancy by handling the sperm or the oocyte outside the human body, and transferring the gamete or the embryo into the reproductive system of a woman. It defines an ART bank as an organisation set up to supply sperm or semen, oocytes, or oocyte donors to ART clinics or their patients. ART services will apply to women above the legal age of marriage and below 50, and to men above the legal age of marriage and below 55.

How will ART services be regulated?

NATIONAL BOARD: It will advise the Centre on policy matters. It will review and monitor rules and regulations, and recommend any changes. It will set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by clinics and banks. State boards will coordinate the implementation of the guidelines.

NATIONAL REGISTRY: It will have a central database on all clinics and banks in the country, including nature and types of services provided, and the outcome of these services. The registry will provide the data to National Board for making policies and guidelines.

REGISTRATION AUTHORITY: It will have the chairperson, who will be an officer above the rank of Joint Secretary in the Health Department; a vice-chairperson, who will be above the rank of the Joint Director in the Health Department; an eminent woman representing a women’s organisation; an officer of the Law Department, and, an eminent registered medical practitioner.

The registration authority’s functions will include: to grant, suspend, or cancel the registration of ART centres; to enforce the standards and supervise implementation of the law; to investigate complaints of any breach of provisions, to take legal action against the misuse of ART and initiate independent investigations; and to recommend to the National and State Boards on modifying the regulation with changes in technology and social conditions.

What rules must clinics comply with?

They have to ensure that the commissioning couples, women, and donors of gametes are eligible for ART procedures, and that the donor is medically tested. They will have to provide professional counselling about all the implications and chances of success — and inform the couples about advantages, disadvantages, costs, side effects, and risks including that of multiple pregnancies. They will have to establish a grievance cell.

ART clinics will have to make the commissioning couple or woman aware of the rights of a child born through ART, and ensure all data is kept confidential. The Bill says a child born through ART shall be deemed to be a biological child of the commissioning couple. The child will be entitled to all the rights and privileges available to a natural child from the commissioning couple, and the donor will have to relinquish all parental rights over the child.

What are the other safeguards?

The Bill says the clinic shall not perform any treatment or procedure without the written consent of all the parties seeking ART. It mandates an insurance coverage in favour of the oocyte donor by the commissioning couple or woman from an insurance company. The insurance will provide a guarantee of compensation for specified losses, damage, complications, or death of the donor during the process.

What are the regulations on the use and sourcing of gametes and embryos?

The woman cannot be treated with gametes or embryos derived from more than one man or woman during one treatment cycle. Second, a clinic cannot mix semen from two individuals for the procedures. Third, the embryos shall not be split and used for twinning to increase the number. Also, there will be regulations for the harvest of oocytes or embryos, and the number of oocytes or embryos that may be placed in the uterus of a woman during the treatment cycle.

The Bill says the ART bank cannot supply the sperm or oocyte of a single donor to more than one commissioning couple. Also, the oocyte donor shall be an ever-married woman who has at least one live child of her own with a minimum age of three years. She can donate oocytes only once in her lifetime, and not more than seven oocytes are to be retrieved from her. The gamete or embryo of a donor shall be stored for a period of not more than 10 years.

Will there be testing for disease?

The Bill mandates that pre-implantation genetic testing shall be used to screen the embryo for known, pre-existing, heritable, or genetic diseases. The test will identify genetic defects in embryos created through IVF before pregnancy. The National Board will lay down conditions on pre-implantation testing.

Written by Kaunain Sheriff M

Source: Indian Express, 3/12/21

Remember how the Constitution was brought into being

 

G. N. Devy writes: Tribal communities, workers, peasants, students and the common people braved imprisonment or bullets and fought for the dream of a freedom that would ensure justice and equality

In 1922, a 30-year-old English poet published a long poem, a modern-day epic by common consent. A century later, T S Eliot’s The Waste Land resonates in India, not because of its prophecy or satire, but because of a curious tale it picked up from the Brihad Aranyaka. The Aranyaka, the earliest among the Upanishads, is a treasure trove of mythical stories, one of which appears in the fifth section of The Waste Land, titled ‘What the Thunder Said.’

This is how it goes: After Prajapati, the creator, had made beings and things, he danced in a frenzy, shouting, “da, da, da…” He then assembled his progeny — the devas, danavas and manavas — and asked if they had understood what he said. The devas said “da” is damyata: “learn self-control”; the manavas thought, he had said datta: “learn to overcome greed”; the danavas said it was dayadhvam: “learn to forgive”. Prajapati laughed enigmatically and said, “Well, you seem to have understood, perhaps.”

Without forgetting that this is a myth and not history, I have often wondered if there has been a moment in India’s history when the praja danced in ecstasy, as did Prajapati, for having created what had to be created. I like to believe that November 26, 1949, was that moment – we, the people, adopted, enacted and gave unto ourselves the Constitution, which gave to every Indian a hope that no past era had provided. What diverse responses does it evoke now?

Remembering the day, the constitutional head of India’s judiciary said that the “citizenry of independent India” has breathed life into “what might otherwise have been just another bare document”. Many freedom fighters, such as Gandhi, Ambedkar, Nehru, Lajpat Rai, Patel and Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, he reminded the nation, were lawyers. His appreciation of “litigants, judges, law-makers and lawyers” reminded the country that it is the people who matter above all. The response to Samvidhan Divas by the principal opposition party was to remind the Prime Minister that the institutions envisioned by the Constitution have been rendered dysfunctional during his regime and “the Constitution was being undermined every day”. The thoughts of the Prime Minister on the day revolved round his pet theme of dynastic politics as a threat to democracy, colonial mindset and “misuse of the freedom enshrined in the Constitution” as a hindrance in the country’s development. His irritation towards those he believes to be hindering development was clear in word and tone.

All three paid homage to those who gave up their lives to make India free. Influenced by visuals in films, emotive theatre, stories heard from elders and distorted snippets coming through social media, the nation’s memory of the freedom struggle is quite truncated. Who remembers today, for instance, the names of the thousands who plunged into the Quit India and Civil Disobedience movements, faced the gallows, were shot by the colonial police or rotted in jails? Who remembers that tribe and caste fought British rule in villages and cities, from the Santhal uprising in the 1850s right till independence in 1947?

One of those many struggles for India’s freedom was the Battle of Aberdeen, a violent clash between the native Adivasi population of the Andaman islands and the British and the convicts deported to the Penal Colony in the Andaman islands after 1857. Anthropologist Vishvajit Pandya tells us that in April 1859, a batch of Indian prisoners had escaped the Penal Settlement and wanted to hide in the habitat of the Adivasis. All but one of the convicts were killed, as they had been clearing the forest for creating British settlements. A month later, in May 1859, the Adivasis decided to attack the British establishment; but Dudhnath Tiwari, convict no. 276, who they had not killed, betrayed them and reported the plot to the British. As a result, 1,500 tribal men faced the bullets fired from the navy schooner Charlotte. Why had the convicts attempted an escape? In the previous year, in a single day, on May 18, 1958, scores of prisoners had been hanged, 26 of them deported from the Bombay Presidency alone and most in their early twenties. One finds in the record of martyrs documented by the ICHR that from among those who were deported to the Andamans from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a total of 37 were hanged. They belonged to all castes and religions. Of them, 14 were Muslims.

Not just in the events of the 1857 resistance to the British rule, but throughout the long history of the freedom struggle, women and men from all castes, communities, religions and regions risked their lives to create a free and forward-looking India. Records show that some esoteric groups did not participate in the freedom struggle, while some individuals submitted mercy petitions and some became informants for the British. However, tribal communities, workers, peasants, students and the common people braved imprisonment or bullets and fought for the dream of a freedom that would ensure justice and equality. The Constitution was and remains the culmination of that struggle.

Returning to the Aranyaka myth, one agrees with the CJI that the people have kept the Constitution alive, despite the “clean chits” to architects of riots and FIRs against victims of atrocities. One agrees with opposition parties that democratic institutions have crumbled; outside as well inside the political parties. Yes, the Prime Minister was right in pointing to “family-centric” action as a hindrance to development. Indeed, catering to only a few corporate families has caused a grave economic crisis for the rest of India.

One wonders if, like the mythical Prajapati, the praja could laugh, for it knows that “once the Constitution” is no guarantee of “always the Constitution”. Surely, it is watching through millions of eyes.

Not just in the events of the 1857 resistance to the British rule, but throughout the long history of the freedom struggle, women and men from all castes, communities, religions and regions risked their lives to create a free and forward-looking India. Records show that some esoteric groups did not participate in the freedom struggle, while some individuals submitted mercy petitions and some became informants for the British. However, tribal communities, workers, peasants, students and the common people braved imprisonment or bullets and fought for the dream of a freedom that would ensure justice and equality. The Constitution was and remains the culmination of that struggle.

Returning to the Aranyaka myth, one agrees with the CJI that the people have kept the Constitution alive, despite the “clean chits” to architects of riots and FIRs against victims of atrocities. One agrees with opposition parties that democratic institutions have crumbled; outside as well inside the political parties. Yes, the Prime Minister was right in pointing to “family-centric” action as a hindrance to development. Indeed, catering to only a few corporate families has caused a grave economic crisis for the rest of India.

One wonders if, like the mythical Prajapati, the praja could laugh, for it knows that “once the Constitution” is no guarantee of “always the Constitution”. Surely, it is watching through millions of eyes.

Written by G. N. Devy

This column first appeared in the print edition on December 3, 2021 under the title ‘For the praja, by the praja’. The writer is a cultural activist

Source: Indian Express, 3/12/21