Chart: The Sharp Decline in Total Expenditure on Social Security Schemes

The 2023-24 Budget has seen a new round of cuts in social-security schemes, with declining allocations in real terms for NREGA, social security pensions, child nutrition programmes and maternity benefits.

The 2023-24 Budget has seen a new round of cuts in social-security schemes, with declining allocations in real terms for NREGA, social security pensions, child nutrition programmes and maternity benefits. Taking all these together, we are more or less back to square one after 20 years, in terms of total expenditure on these schemes as a proportion of GDP (see Graph).

Governments have as much of an obligation to redistribution as to fostering growth. What we are seeing more and more is that allocations for social security schemes are going down in real terms, and sometimes even in nominal terms. One mind-boggling example is that the Central contribution to old-age pensions has stagnated at Rs 200 per month since 2006. Child nutrition schemes such as ICDS and school meals have also been grossly defunded in recent years. This year’s drastic MGNREGA budget cut is another example.

Graph: Reetika Khera

A Teacher’s Daughter Breaks Down the Side-Effects of Online Teaching

For the first time in my life, I have seen my mother question herself and her teaching.

Months have passed ever since the pandemic hit the world. While capitalists are finding different ways to continue making profits, educational institutions are busy extracting the very maximum teachers in their employ can possibly give. News of bullying and harassing teachers during online classes has become a new normal. Experienced teachers have found themselves unable to cope with fast-growing technology while being expected to transition smoothly despite no real infrastructure being provided.

More so, educational institutions have been quick to lay off teachers whose services have been deemed to be no longer significant. In the fallout, it’s been made clear that art and sports are viewed as irrelevant by many such institutions.

Over the past four months, not a day has gone by when my mother hasn’t woken up feeling extremely anxious and stressed – not because of the ongoing crisis, but because she is required to conduct her classes online.

Growing up, I saw my mother work as hard as one humanly could: effortlessly maintaining the balance between doing household chores and igniting the thirst for learning among young children. It was only through her did I learn the importance of maintaining a disciplined work ethic. Making art, writing speeches, doing Zumba, and even gardening every now and then – there was absolutely nothing she wasn’t good at. But then the pandemic happened, and she was asked to teach her students online.


Also read: My Mother, a School Teacher, and Her Struggles With Technology


My mother’s technological knowledge had always been limited to using WhatsApp and sharing documents on email every now and then. Of course, she would find her way to YouTube if she was in the mood for a new recipe. Earlier this year, I also taught her to use Amazon Prime so she could watch some movies and relax.

But professional databases? Well, I never thought the world would take such a massive turn.

I will be honest. It has been quite a struggle. Not only for her, but also for me. Just as my mother’s phone rings around a certain time for a work call, my heart starts pounding. Because over time, all her work has become my work too. Because every time she is required to make any changes in her study material, it automatically means that I immediately stop doing whatever it is that I’m doing – no matter how important – and do her task within the given deadline.

As a student and part-time working professional, my schedule has been in shambles as a result. It is not only my deadlines that worry me, but also my mother’s. And as much as I would like to be unconditionally supportive of my mother and her work, I find it difficult to make it through the day without feeling resentful and angry.

Spiteful words rise up in my throat when I am interrupted – often inadvertently – during an important work call only to help my mother set a question paper for an exam to happen a week later. Often times, this sort of a situation ends up in me helping my mother while also trying to calm myself down from the anger that clouds my head. But other times, it is me saying hurtful words to her only for her to apologise for something she has absolutely no control over.

My mother is an ambitious woman. She has been nothing but honest with her work for the last 23 years. And she absolutely hates asking for favours. But when it comes to technology, she just simply has no other choice. I see the look on her face when she asks me for help and it just breaks my heart to see her struggle over something that is hardly a measure of her worth.


Also read: A Peek Into the Orwellian World of Educational Institutions During COVID-19


For the first time in my life, I have seen my mother question herself and her teaching. All those thoughts of not being a “tech-savvy” have fogged her lens – which has not only been detrimental to her teaching, but has also impacted her mental well-being.

She can no longer call herself a good teacher because she’s convinced that not being “tech-savvy” implies not being a good educator. The confidence with which she would carry herself in the professional spheres no longer reflects in her face. For some reason, she’s now always apologetic and hesitant. And it absolutely breaks my heart. There is nothing more painful than seeing someone you look up to question their self-worth.

This pandemic has taken many, many lives. It has also worsened the lives of those who wanted nothing but to improve and change the world. My mother is in her forties and is definitely trying to learn more about technology so she can take care of her work by herself.

To survive and help each other should be the ultimate motto for all this year. After all, what is the point of education when it is convenient for you to ignore humanity?

Rakshika Aphale is a final year law student who hopes to explore the domains of policy making, education, and gender studies.

Featured image credit: Christina/Unsplash

Gods & Monsters: On Denial, Heartbreak and Lana Del Rey

Why do we rush to defend our heroes even when they fail to stick to the standards we set for ourselves?

My alarm rang at 7:45 am and I woke up irritably to dismiss it. Instinctively, my fingers found their way to my notifications. Emails, check. WhatsApp, check. Instagram…okay.

The first thing that appeared on my feed was Lana Del Rey’s statement about being crucified because she “glamourised abuse”. Apparently, her freedom of expression was denied and frowned upon.

LDR has always been bold when it comes to her choice of words, music and art. Rampant criticism was not something she deserved. I knew her statement would warrant massive backlash. After all, the woman was tired of being tormented for something she was born to do: make honest art.

Come late afternoon, I saw posts that called Lana a racist and misogynist. Naturally, like any loyal devotee, my first response was denial.

She was being called “a perfect example of white feminism”. I was devastated. Defensive. Why was she not allowed to speak her mind when Beyoncé openly sang about cheating and making love?

Was I really going to let a bunch of salty fans convince me that my hero of about a decade was blinded by her privilege and had refused to choose a wiser set of words to speak her mind?

Lana’s music got me through so many dark days of my life. On days I didn’t feel like waking up, knowing LDR existed filled me with relief and hope.

The first 24 hours were harrowing. I was getting into banter with friends and strangers, tearing up at the thought of how much a woman must suffer before she finally gets to be herself. My arguments in her defence were obscure and badly put, I admit.

I argued that she had never intended to make it about race. That she only compared their music to hers because those were things that were conventionally frowned upon. That she should damn well be allowed to be herself, when other women do it and are indeed, celebrated for it. Her art was exaggerated as “problematic” when she was simply truthful. Being a white woman did not liberate her from her struggles, and if anything, feminists must accommodate such women for their inability to be their uninhibited selves.

But the truth was: Lana Del Rey messed up. And she messed up bad.


Also read: The Heroes We Worship


Having calmed down, I realised I was being ridiculously stubborn about something I had no control over. Apparently my hero was fully capable of propagating problematic ideals. The blow was ruthless.

I read extensively about why what had happened was considered wrong and had warranted criticism from feminists all over the world.

And now I know why.

LDR wanted to reclaim her voice as an artist who was suppressed by her counterparts but she name-dropped women of colour and compared their struggles to hers as if they weren’t at the receiving end of deplorable backlash.

She hypersexualised women for being openly sexual and owning their sexuality when they sang about – “being sexy, wearing no clothes, f*cking”. And made her art sound innocent by calling it – “being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect”. Having number one tracks on a billboard, however, does not set women of colour free from their oppression. Lana was clearly in a position to understand the severity of her words when they were put out for the world to see.

As Megan Fox said, “There is never a need to compare yourselves to other women. I would never invalidate the struggles other women have faced in order to give voice to mine.”

And Lana did exactly that.

She retorted that it wasn’t about race. But indeed it became about race when she name-dropped women of colour and berated their art. Her justification for doing so was definitely not convincing. It became about comparing struggles. That was not cool.

Then, her older, more controversial interviews resurfaced. There, she spoke on how “she had better things to look forward to than feminism”. Her privilege and ignorance were clearly despicable.

I was crushed. I was so, so mad. But more importantly, I was deeply disappointed in my own feminism. In my inability to see through the bullshit of the woman I had loved for so long.

I realised the first step to making amends was realising that this needed change, that something was wrong. It has taken me a long time to finally wrap my head around understanding and accepting that my idols can be wrong. Hell, they can be terrible.

But we will only be able to view the world for what it is when we start holding our heroes accountable.

I don’t think Lana will apologise. Her recent post made it clear that she doesn’t think anything was wrong. But it’s allowed me to understand that people make mistakes and sometimes they don’t want to acknowledge it. Most times, it is their privilege that gives them this liberty. And it is sad, but we cannot change that.

However, we can change our beliefs. And we can certainly change our actions depending on our faith. To be able to look beyond our limited vision is what matters. Truth be told, it is the only way forward.

Rakshika Aphale is an unabashed nerd who finds solace in poetry, solitude, and good conversations.

Featured image credit: Reuters

What One Chart and One Table of Budget Keywords Tell Us About Official Priorities

The latest Budget speech perpetuates a chronic blindness to basic social needs. Children are not mentioned at all and nor are (say) nutrition, social security or maternity entitlements.

Credit: Shome Basu

Credit: Shome Basu

The latest Budget speech perpetuates a chronic blindness to basic social needs. Children are not mentioned at all and nor are (say) nutrition, social security or maternity entitlements.

Keyword Number of citations
2014 2016
Investment 34 23
Growth 31 20
NREGA/employment guarantee 2 1
Nutrition 2 0
Social security 1 0
Children 0 0
Integrated Child Development Services 0 0
Midday meals/school meals 0 0
Maternity/maternity entitlements 0 0
National food security act 0 0
Pensions (other than organized sector) 0 0
National Health Mission 0 1a

a “Funds will be made available through PPP mode under the National Health Mission, to provide dialysis services in all district hospitals.”

The 2016-17 budget also continues the long-standing trend of ignoring the social sector at the expense of defence:

Defence Expenditure vs Spending on the Social Sector

Defence Expenditure vs Spending on the Social Sector (in crores of rupees)