Amita Singh

Manual scavenging still on in smart cities despite tall claims

March 31, 2022

Can a ‘smart city’ co-exist with ethical and legal guilt of manual scavenging? Interestingly, this stark reality has been met with bold denial by leaders of smart cities. Cities of Bhopal, Indore, Bangalore, Surat, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Gurgaon and many others have been generously bestowed top ranks despite the muck they...

Grassroots concerns in smart city rankings

March 24, 2022

Smart City Mission has been brought out as a committed design by governments across the world to resolve the urban crisis. Cities have outgrown government capacity to manage. Population in Indian cities is rising at such speed that it adds a Chicago every year and by 2030 may add a...

Why we need humanitarian law in disaster management

January 20, 2022

In one of the consultative meetings of the World Food Programme on disaster management organised by Sphere India recently, somebody raised objections to the role of humanitarian law in disaster management on the logic that this is already a part of the regular legal responsibility of governments. Should this be...

The capacity to govern

January 13, 2022

An age-old debate that kept scholars, citizens, administrators, and politicians equally worried is about the capacity to govern. In older Indian archives Kautilya’s Arthshashtra presented a blueprint for Chandragupta Maurya’s governance and linked money, military and markets to build king’s capacity to govern. Post-war scholars such as Eldon L. Johnson...

Some thoughts on the judicial oversight of executive actions

December 30, 2021

One can find enormous literature on the subject of judicial independence and governance but a recent speech of the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana at Vijayawada can be ranked as one of the most strident and comprehensive description of the relationship between the law and governance that sustains constitutional...

A lethal touch to the ‘Preamble’ of India’s Constitution

December 9, 2021

Can people in top public spaces be excused of their deadly contributions to aggravating turbulence in national governance? Most recently, such a disproportionate use of their right to ‘freedom of expression’ in firing illogical and perilous cannons against modern India’s security heritage, the Constitution is disturbing if not shocking. The...

Democratic deficits and disaster management

December 2, 2021

Substantive democracy led by ethics and the spirit of the Constitution is a flywheel of governance. After the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha Members on the first day of Parliament’s winter session for the rest of its session, it is more than obvious that institutions of governance suffer from a...

Religion-free governance must for secular India

November 25, 2021

A question that has perplexed public and political life since ancient times is about the role of religion in governance. Indian Constitution had been far ahead of many decolonized nascent peer republics post-World War II in firmly instituting ‘secularism’ in the pride of place ‘The Preamble’ that it deserved. Secularism...

Why Corbett tiger reserve needs immediate attention

November 18, 2021

What comes from Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve is not news for anyone. It is a true narrative of the ignorance and casualness with which MOEFCC has been looking at forest and wildlife crimes notwithstanding chest beating at COP26 which has just ended with revived understanding about how these forests can...

Indian administration and its political masters

November 4, 2021

Frequent political use of administrative and regulatory agencies has now become a norm rather than an aberration. The role of Delhi police in riots to the recent Lakhimpur Kheri violence the Apex Court has repeatedly indicted the government for dragging its feet when it has to protect its ideological lawbreakers...

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