2/2020

As the nation witnesses a largescale reverse migration induced bythe lockdown, one wonders whether readers in Jaipur are aware

of a large group of migrant workers who are calm and restful. Theyare what is called Rajbanshis from Cooch Behar, a small district innorthern West Bengal, situated just over Bangladesh. Their journey toJaipur began when Princess Gayatri Devi married Maharaja SawaiMan Singh II of Jaipur in 1940.

With her wedding, Gayatri Devi brought five maidservants in hertrousseau as was the custom. That number multiplied manifold. Today the Rajbanshisare about 500,000 in the number living all over Rajasthan, though the majority livein Jaipur. What began as a spillover effect of conjugal ties soon became a trend,instigated by the lack of economic opportunities and the plight of a land ravaged bythe channel-shifting Torsa River.

A study by Aajeevika Bureau reveals that West Bengal, especially Cooch Behar, isone of the four states from which the major proportion of migrants working in Jaipurhail from. Women from that district have, over the years, dominated the domestic helpmarket. Their male counterparts have taken up different informal jobs ranging frombeing hotel and restaurant staff, pulling rickshaws to skilled construction labour.

Given the magnitude and historical connotation of their presence, there arises apertinent question. How is this community tackling the current crisis?

To explore that, the first thought that crosses the mind is, where do they belong?A conversation with Hari Narayan Burman and Kamal Burman, who work as officeboys at CUTS office in Jaipur, reveals that they migrated to Jaipur close to 20 yearsago and now call it their home. There is a clear distinction between their ‘desh’ ornative place, and their ‘ghar’, where they have settled down.

While they like to visit their native place, once in a year, for special occasions orspending time with extended family, their home is in Jaipur. Many find their matcheslocally among their community and get married. Some have married outside theircommunity but no objects to it. When asked if they too are disturbed like many othermigrant communities in this pandemic, their answer is in the negative. Thus, they don’tfeel the need to travel back to Cooch Behar to feel at home.

A closer look into the economics of the situation, however, shows a difference ofviews. When asked about migrants flocking to their homes, through harsh conditionsand several uncertainties, Kamal says that their contemporaries, some of who wereemployed in factories and have been out of work since the lockdown was implemented,have been forced to go home. On the other hand, his situation is better given thecontinuity in his income, even though his wife who works as domestic help, has beenout of work. Thus, while survival is difficult, for this community, it has not reacheda level where they need to panic and leave for Cooch Behar.

What about migrants fromCooch Behar in this crisis?

Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General

I N S I D E

UP ‘princess’ photo goesoff-menu

Marriage cancelled over‘no toilet’

Differently Abled Womenon a Mask Mission duringCOVID-19 pandemic

Inline baggage screeningat airport

Muslim couple performskanyadaan P.S. Our gratitude to esteemed subscribers.

Our Tribute on HerDeath Anniversary on 29th July.

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Meet the world’s smallest catWith lockdown in place due to

COVID-19 which has brought tourism

to a standstill, many species of wildanimals which were rarely spotted inthe national parks in Rajasthan havebeen venturing out fearlessly due tolack of human presence.

The rusty-spotted cat species listedas ‘near threatened’ by the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature wascaptured in the camera at RanthamboreNational Park.

Rubiginosus is the world’s smallestcat and found only in India, Nepal, andSri Lanka. It was last spotted in SariskaTiger Reserve around three years back.

(ToI, 24.04.20)

‘Order of the Red Star’ for Indian SoldierThe photograph and citation of an

Indian soldier, Hawaldar Gajendra Singh,a native of village Badalu in Pithoragarhdistrict, has been included in theRussian army museum’s gallery ofgallant soldiers in Moscow.

Singh was awarded the ‘Order of theRed Star’, a Soviet military decoration,for his bravery in the Second WorldWar in 1944. The Indian Embassy inMoscow informed the family of the deadsoldier about the felicitation. (ToI, 29.06.20)

When Deepak became DeepikaHe danced like a woman, walked

like a woman, and even behaved like awoman. Deepak, who was one a famous

dancer in westernRajasthan, recentlyunderwent a sexchange surgery andbecame Deepika.

His fascination tobecome a woman

started during cultural programmeswhere several men used to dress aswomen to entertain the crowds.

His inspiration is late dancer HarishSuthar of Jaisalmer who became famousby the name of Queen Harish and hada huge fan following in India and abroad.He, too, used to dress like a womanand dance. (ToI, 06.06.20)

Bhindranwale portrait sparks rowA huge portrait of the fifth Sikh

guru has appeared next to anotherlarge poster of the slain militant chiefJarnail Singh Bhindranwale on theexterior of the largest gurdwara in theUK, sparking controversy amongst theSikh community.

The 20-foot by 10-foot image ofBhindranwale went up on the exteriorof Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh SabhaSouthall in view of the anniversary ofOperation Blue Star.

Yards away is a portrait of the fifthguru to mark Sri Guru Arjun Dev’smartyrdom day. It is a disgrace toequate Bhindranwale with the fifth guru.

(www.indiadailymail.com, 05.06.20)

Sikh Officer Makes History in USSecond Lieutenant Anmol Narang

will create history by becoming the firstobservant Sikh to graduate from theprestigious US Military Academy at WestPoint.

US President Donald Trumpdelivered remarks at the 2020 USMilitary Academy at West Pointgraduation ceremony. Narang willcomplete her Basic Officer LeadershipCourse (BOLC) at Fort Sill in Lawton,Oklahoma.

Following the successful completionof BOLC, she will then head to herfirst posting in Okinawa, Japan, inJanuary of 2021, according to the non-profit organisation Sikh Coalition.

(ET, 14.06.20)

Bring giraffes from AfricaWhile we wait for Gir lions to be

shifted to Madhya Pradesh, why notget some giraffes from Africa?

Director of Madhya Pradesh Lionsproject, Mohan Meena, a senior IFSofficer, has recommended to the State

Wildlife headquarters to considertranslocation of giraffes to Kuno.

Kuno, in Sheopur district, would beideal to let giraffes roam wild in India.The proposal to translocate giraffes toIndia comes at a time when itspopulation in Africa has declined byalmost 40 percent over the past threedecades and it’s listed as a ‘vulnerable’species. (ToI, 04.06.20)

Keralite loves bees so much!Even the thought of a swarm of

bees is enough to give most peoplenightmares. Oneman in Kerala,however, loves beesso much that he hasno qualms lettingthem sit on his facefor hours on end.

Nature MS is abeekeeper who has earned a worldrecord for spending the longestduration of time with his head coveredin bees. According to Guinness WorldRecords, the 24-year-old spent fourhours, 10 minutes and five seconds withhis head completely submerged in beesto earn the record. (NDTV, 22.06.20)

UP ‘princess’ photogoes off-menu

A restaurant in China hasremoved the photographs of a

former Indian princess from its menucard after Indian Ambassador to thatcountry Vikram Misri took up thematter following protests from herfamily in UP.

Princess Nawabzadi MehrunnisaKhan is the daughter of the lastnawab of Rampur. Misri pursued thematter saying that the Masala Artrestaurant did not take permissionfrom the erstwhile royal family orfrom Mehrunnisa to use her photo.

(www.ndtv.com, 15.06.20)

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MiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellany

Special species of Babool tree foundAfter 68 years, a

species of Babooltree has been foundon a hil ltop inDhaar vil lage inUdaipur district.Acacia Eburnea treewas last recorded inthe north-westernpart of Rajasthan inthe Botanical Surveyof India in 1951.

After that, no written record of thisspecies was present in Rajasthan untilnow, when five such trees have beenfound.

The specialty of this tree is that itsstem is yellow while other varieties ofBabool tree in Rajasthan are either ofwhite stem or black. (ToI, 06.06.20)

Male or female dinosaurs?A lot of mistakes have been made

when it comes to distinguishing betweenmale and female dinosaurs, newresearch suggests.

The debate over whetherpaleontologists have been accurately

identifying thesex of dinosaurfossils hasbeen rumblingon for manyyears.

The teamanalysed theskulls ofmodern -daygharials, an

endangered crocodilian species, to seehow possible it is to distinguish malesand females based only on fossilrecords. (https://news.sky.com/, 12.05.20)

Mysterious ‘radio bursts’ from spaceAstronomers have detected a

mysterious fast radio burst coming froma dwarf galaxy three billion light-yearsaway. The burst — known as an FRB— appears to be transmitting signalsthat reach Earth in a repeating, 157-day pattern.

FRBs are bursts of radio waves inspace that last just a millisecond. Somehave been traced back to their homegalaxies, but astronomers have yet tofigure out what causes them.

(www.cbsnews.com/news, 09.06.20)

Human urine, a useful ingredientThe European Space Agency said

that human urine could one daybecome a useful ingredient in makingconcrete to build on the moon.

The agency said researchers in arecent study it sponsored found thaturea, the main organic compound inurine, would make the mixture for a‘lunar concrete’ more malleable beforeit hardens into its sturdy final form.

(www.huffpost.com, 08.05.20)

Man fined for ‘provocative’ fartA man in Vienna has been fined

nearly £500 for farting provocativelyin front of policeofficers. Austrianpolice wereforced to defendthe penalty afterthe Österreichnewspaper revealed the man had beenpunished for ‘offending public decency’.

Officers argued that the offenderwas uncooperative and behavingprovocatively with officers leading upto the incident. The man can appealthe fine. (www.metro.co.uk, 17.06.20)

Lost ring found after 18 yearsA Georgia woman who lost her class

ring on a Florida beach in 2002 has thering back on her finger after a man witha metal detector found it 18 years later.

John Porcella said he often uses hismetal detector to comb the beach nearthe pier at Jacksonville Beach, and ona recent search in the sand, heuncovered a 2001 class ring fromCollins High School in Suwanee, Ga.

Porcella contacted the school, whichidentified the ring as belonging to agraduate named Amy Goetz. (UPI, 24.06.20)

20-year-old Golden RetrieverA 20-year-old Golden Retriever in

Tennessee is being hailed as the longest-living dog of her breed after becomingthe first on record to surpass themilestone age.

The GoldenHeart Golden RetrieversRescue said Augie, who was adoptedby Oakland residents Jennifer and SteveHetterscheidt at the age of 14,celebrated her 20th birthday, becomingthe first golden retriever known to havereached the third decade of life. Thebreed has an average lifespan of 10 to12 years. (UPI, 24.06.20)

Glove to initiate translationA team of University of California,

Los Angeles, scientists have developeda glove that translates American SignLanguage into speech in real-time.

They said the glove contains sensorsin the digits that identify each word,phrase, or letter in American SignLanguage (ASL) and transmits themwirelessly to a smartphone app thattranslates them at a rate of one wordper second.

The device also includes optionalsensors attached to a user's face toregister facial expressions used in ASL.

(UPI, 30.06.20)

Marriage cancelled over ‘no toilet’

Almost three years after Akshay Kumar- Bhumi Pednekar starrer Bollywood film ‘Toilet Ek Prem

Katha’ hit the screens, a 22-year-old girl Reena SinghGurjar’s video protesting against her marriage in ahouse which does not have a toilet has gone viral.

She did not even hesitate to appeal to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot,and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot to help herin getting the marriage cancelled.

A science graduate, the girl is the daughter of a police sub-inspector postedin Dholpur. After the video went viral, Harsaura police reached her house andrequested her parents not to get her married off. (ToI, 17.06.20)

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City BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity Briefs

Stepping towards digitisationTaking a step towards making the

entire system online, the JaipurDevelopment Authority (JDA) addedoptions of sub-division andreconstitution of plots on its website.

This would not only maintaintransparency but would also benefitthousands of plot owners who areforced to make several trips to JDAfor this tedious task.

Applicants can apply forsubdivision and reconstitution only onthe plots after the service number isgenerated by the assistant townplanner (ATP) of the zone. (ToI, 10.06.20)

No masks: Lockdown norms mockedOn a day Karnataka’s COVID-19

count suffered its third record jumpin three days, former CM HDKumaraswamy’s son Nikhil got

married at the family’s farmhouse inBidadi, giving a wide berth to socialdistancing and lockdown norms.

Photos from the ceremonyshowed the groom and bride, familymembers, and dozens of guestshuddling together, no one wearing amask.

Social media was questioning iflockdown norms were only forcommon citizens and not VIPs.

(ToI, 18.04.20)

Kitchen garden gaining popularityVegetables are one of the most

essential items to run the kitchen.But, buying vegetables during thelockdown period has become difficult.However, not many are worriedabout purchasing vegetables duringthis period as they have turned intotheir kitchen gardens.

To avoid contact with the outsideworld, many residents in the city havestarted growing their vegetables athome. Few have developed kitchengardens on their terraces, while someare growing it in open areas of thehouse that remain unutilised so far.

(ToI, 22.04.20)

Jaipur to go tobacco-freeOn the occasion of World No

Tobacco Day 2020, efforts would bemade to makethe city tobacco-free by strictlyadhering toCigarettes andOther TobaccoProducts Act

(COTPA) and its effectiveimplementation.

The implementation of the Actwill be closely monitored andoffenders will be dealt with strictly.In Jaipur, tobacco use will beprohibited in and around publicplaces, workplaces, educational andpublic health institutions, etc.

(ToI, 01.06.20)

Getting a flood control hubThe district administration has

ordered the setting up of a floodcontrol centre for eight zones ofJaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC)at Bani Park fire brigade office.

Monsoon is here and JMC officialshave been given charge of controlcentres in different zones and aspecial helpline number has beenissued. The public can call on thatnumber for waterlogging issues.

Each zone will have at least twocommunity buildings with necessaryresources where people can berescued in an emergency and to domapping of all community buildings.

(ToI, 26.0620)

‘Light Metro’ to roll outThe Rajasthan government is now

planning to roll out ‘Light Metro’ onthe BRTS Corridor and take theMetro from Mansarovar station toAjmer Road-Delhi bypass.

Initially, the Light Metro will runfrom Mansarovar station to NewSanganer Road. After this, it can be

considered totake it further toSanganer, HaldiValley, PratapNagar.

The estimatedexpenditure on the entire project isbelieved to be around M1,800 crore.The government will take a final callonly after inspection and the DPR.

(www.urbanrailways.com, 26.06.20)

Differently AbledWomen on a Mask

Mission duringCOVID-19 pandemic

Due to face masks steadilyvanishing from the market

due to COVID-19 pandemic, CUTSCentre for Human Development,Chittorgarh started a smallinitiative led by Persons withDisabilities-Self-help Groups(SHGs). The SHGs are makingmasks that are 100 percent cottonmaterial and can be reused afterhome sterilisation.

Sweta Garu in Dagla ka Kheda,Salma Bano in Bassi Gram

Panchyat, and eight members fromChittorgarh, Rajasthan who havesome form of the orthopedicimpairment or the other, are on amission to complete the order of20000 masks for the districtadministration, NGOs, and othersocial groups.

The SHG has an order of16000 masks to be supplied tovarious government departments,NGOs, in Chittorgarh andBhilwara districts ofRajasthan. They have beenengaged in making cloth masksand getting decent earning.

This SHG was provided withsewing machines and training byCUTS centre in Chittorgarh withthe help of NABARD and othersuch sectors. This is another areawhere the organisation is proudof its contribution to the massivedrive to save lives.

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City BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity Briefs

Street vendors to get ID cardsAround 12,000 street vendors in

Jaipur will now be provided withidentity cards. Recently, the Centre

has introduced a scheme underwhich street vendors will be able toget a loan of M10,000.

Pradhan Mantri Street VendorAtma Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme wasannounced by the CentralGovernment for them who have beenhit by the national lockdown. It willbe valid until March 2022.

(ToI, 27.06.20)

48 special trains likely from JulyThough the railways have decided

not to operate regular superfast andexpress category trains till August12, the North Western Railway(NWR) is likely to run some moretrains as ‘specials’ from July 01, 2020.

These trains will not have generalclass bogies and passengers onlywith confirmed reservation would beallowed to board. NWR is waitingfor a nod of the railway board to getthese trains to operate.

(ToI, 28.06.20)

Parents unhappy with online classesGuidelines issued by the State

Commission for Protection of ChildRights to schools for conductingonline classes have been termedincomplete insufficient by privateschool principals, experts andparents.

Most principals and educators feelthat the guidelines miss out onadvocating activity-based learning,advisory for parents, no two-day offs,and does not focus on measures toreduce the screen time for children.

(ToI, 28.06.20)

Star of a vanishing tribeThe daughter

of a couple thatcollects sal leavesfor living inChhattisgarh hasbecome the firstgirl in thevanishing Birhor tribe to pass Class12 as a regular student.

Battling poverty, dogma, and stiffopposition from her tribe, Nirmalascored 58%, and now aims to stepinto a college — perhaps the firstgirl in her tribe to do so. The Birhorsare believed to number less than10,000 in the country. (ToI, 28.06.20)

Inline baggage screening at airportFlyers using Jaipur airport do not

have to queue up near the X-raymachines to scan their baggagebefore check-in. Jaipur airport gotthe inline baggage screening (ILBS)system which will decongest the

check-in area and passengers canstraightaway visit the check-incounter.

This system will save the time ofpassengers. They can directly visit thecheck-in counter and will get thebaggage at the destination. The costof this system is around M18 crore.

(ToI, 30.06.20)

Indira Rasoi Yojana for poorChief Minister Ashok Gehlot

announced the launch of Indira RasoiYojana (Indira Kitchen Scheme) tofulfill its promise of ‘no one sleepshungry’ in the state.

Under this scheme, the needy willbe provided nutritious food twice aday on concessional rates. The

government would spend M100 crorein a year for the scheme. LocalNGOs will also be lined up to runthis scheme and effective monitoringbe done with the help of IT.

(ToI, 23.06.20)

RSRTC adds more vehiclesWith the continued demand for

buses, the Rajasthan State RoadwaysCorporation (RSRTC) increased thefrequency of buses and addedadditional routes.

Besides, now the buses will plyto various cities in Haryana. At least568 buses were operated across thestate which completed 1,349 trips.Also, buses to Agra, Bharatpur, Dausa,Karauli, and Gurugram startedoperating from Narain Singh Circle.

(ToI, 24.06.20)

Dravyavati river project failedThe Dravyavati river rejuvenation

project, which aimed to revive thecity’s receding groundwater, hasallegedly failed to serve its purposeas cementing has prevented naturalrecharge resulting in fast depletionof water-table along the river.

The 47.5-km river originates fromthe Nahargarh hills in AmerPanchayat Samiti and passes throughthe city areas including JhotwaraPanchayat Samiti, Sanganer PanchayatSamiti before merging with DhodRiver in the south. (ToI, 22.06.20)

Muslim couple performs kanyadaan

Against the backdrop of the lockdown, a Muslim couple in Ludhiana made the wedding of a Hindu couple possible.

The family from Bhatiyan in Ludhianastepped in to solemnise the marriage of22-year-old Pooja with Sudesh Kumarfrom Sahnewal according to Hindu ritualsand carried out her Kanyadaan (givingaway a daughter’s hand in marriage) asher parents could not return from UPdue to the lockdown.

(www.shethepeople.tv, 04.06.20)

CityMattersCityMattersCityMattersCityMattersCityMatters is a quarterly newsletter published by Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), D-217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302016, India,Phone: 91.141.2282821, Fax: 91.141.2282485, Email: cuts@cuts.org, Web site: www.cuts-international.org, and printed by SGM Printers, Jaipur, India.

CUTS offices also at Kolkata, Chittorgarh and New Delhi (India); Lusaka (Zambia); Nairobi (Kenya); Accra (Ghana); Hanoi (Vietnam); Geneva (Switzerland) and Washington DC (USA).

Sources: ET: The Economic Times; NDTV: New Delhi Television Limited; ToI: Times of India; UPI: United Press International

OpinionOpinionOpinionOpinionOpinion

The news/articles in this Newsletter are compressed from several newspapers. The sources given are to be used as a reference for further information, and do not indicatethe literal transcript of a particular news/story. CUTS International is a not-for-profit organisation and the listing of paid news/articles is for informative and educative purposes only.

With governments around the world imposingschool closures nearly 70 percent of the world’s

student population is impacted. In India alone, 32 crorelearners across the segments of pre-primary, primary,secondary, and tertiary are hit because of countrywideschool closures. The stay-at-home period for studentscarries high social and economic costs for all thestakeholders involved in the domain of education. Withinterrupted learning, it is anticipated that more childrenwill be forced to join the labour force, leading to asevere form of child labour and greater dropout ratesfrom schools.

Also, there is found a surge in unintended socialoutcomes like violence against children, an increase inpsychological disorders like stress and anxiety, andteenage pregnancies. Educators, on the other hand,struggle to overcome this paradigm shift from thetraditional chalk-talk methods to the e-learning model,prepare online lesson plans, and upload them.

Additionally, the work from home and online teachingmechanisms are taking a toll on their mental health byblurring the professional versus personal boundaries.

According to UDISE data, India has a humongousnetwork of nearly 15 lakh schools, 25 crore students,94 lakh teachers at the school level, and 50,000 highereducation institutions. This presents manifold challengesin transcending from the physical delivery of educationto online teaching methods.

Initiatives by the governmentThe national institutions of UGC and MHRD are at the

forefront of provisioning technology-enabled learning throughaudio-video mode or e-books and journals.

Second, the Swayamprabha initiative intends to address theproblem of non-uniform internet penetration in the country, byoffering 32 high-quality educational channels through DTH (Directto Home) across the nation, 24x7. The content for these channelsis provided by esteemed educational institutes of the nation likeIIT, UGC, NCERT, etc.

Third, there is a provision of a digital repository of journalsand books which can be accessed by the learners at one placein the National Digital Library of India (NLDI).

MHRD has also ensured the provisioning of virtual labs thatsimulate an environment to perform experiments.

At the school level, a major challenge is the absence of arobust monitoring method to gauge the activities of the studentsremotely.

ConsensusIt is a debatable statement whether e-learning will facilitate

high-order learning skills such as creativity, problem-solving,inquisitive questioning, etc. However, e-learning does contributeto the capacity-building of all the stakeholders involved in theeducation gamut. The role of governments at this juncture willbe critical in ushering benefits from this digital disruption.

Abridged from an article that appeared inwww.dailyo.in/ on May 18, 2020

How India can transform educationin the post-coronavirus world?

Jyotsna Joshi

While online

learning appears to

be a panacea for

these times, there

are many pitfalls

observed with it.