Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

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  Table of Contents, Mainstream, Jul 15, 2026

  14 July

  * ¨Women Counted as “Employed” — But Actually Unpaid Family Workers | Deepa Palathingal, Palak Kunwar
  * The RSS Registration Controversy: A Footnote | Partha S. Ghosh
  * Beyond Choice: Why Education Policy Must Serve the Common Good? | Adama Srinivas Reddy
  * The Mirage of India’s ’Nuclear Renaissance’ | K Sahadevan

• Women Counted as “Employed” — But Actually Unpaid Family Workers | Deepa Palathingal, Palak Kunwar

  14 July

  In India when the participation rate of the female labour force rises, it is often seen as a positive sign of progress and inclusion. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), reported an increase in rate from 23.3% in 2017–18 to about 41.7% in 2023–24, which is indeed a big improvement. However, these figures may not be 100 percent accurate. A large part of this rise is due to women working in family businesses or farms where they are not paid rather than in paid or formal jobs. Many (…)

• The RSS Registration Controversy: A Footnote | Partha S. Ghosh

  14 July, by Partha S Ghosh

  It is surprising that RSS is not a registered organisation even after 100 years of its existence. What is even more surprising is that the Congress Party which ruled India for so many years did not insist upon this basic requirement of a rule-based society. Leave aside the Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel who had expressed his appreciation for its role in refugee relief during the Partition days, even Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was avowedly anti-RSS, did not raise this basic (…)

• The unchanging evolution of the RSS on caste | Hrushikesh Tripathy

  14 July

  June 5, 2026
  Abstract
  This essay examines the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s century-long engagement with caste, arguing that the organisation’s evolution from Hedgewar to Bhagwat constitutes a performance of reform rather than genuine ideological transformation. It contends that the shift toward Samajik Samarasata (Social Harmony) represents a calculated electoral strategy rather than a conversion to structural egalitarianism, and that the RSS has systematically weaponised its sewa (…)

• Beyond Choice: Why Education Policy Must Serve the Common Good? | Adama Srinivas Reddy

  14 July, by Adama Srinivas Reddy

  The inauguration of the first Telangana Public School (TPS) at Arutla by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy marks an important moment in the history of public education in Telangana. The Chief Minister described the initiative as a flagship effort to restore confidence among parents in government education. He announced that Telangana Public Schools would eventually be established in every Assembly constituency, offering high-quality English-medium education, transportation, sports facilities, (…)

• From Isolation to Integration: India’s New Cross-Border Insolvency Regime | Sandhya Sharma

  14 July

  The IBC Amendment Bill, 2026 finally equips India with the tools to resolve multinational insolvencies - but questions of implementation remain
  In today’s global world, where business and economic activities are not confined to its territorial states, in such scenarios business failure of one corporate entity can have ripples effects across different jurisdictions. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 enacted nearly a decade back bought a paradigm shift and complete overhaul to the (…)

• From Glass Ceiling Breakthroughs to Glass Cliff Vulnerabilities: Gendered Leadership, Organizational Crisis and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) Experience in Kerala | Jos Chathukulam

  14 July, by Jos Chathukulam

  Abstract The resignation of Ms. Shweta Menon and the full team from the leadership structure of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) has reopened important debates concerning gender, representation, and institutional power within Kerala’s cultural sector. While her elevation to leadership was initially celebrated as evidence of a historic breakthrough in women’s representation, subsequent developments invite a more critical interpretation. This article argues that the (…)

• Muslims in West Bengal: On the Road to Unfreedom? | Arup Kumar Sen

  14 July, by Arup Kumar Sen

  Immediately after coming to power in the state of West Bengal in 2026, the BJP government has been taking new measures of governance to curtail the freedom of the Muslim community. The Hindu reported (May 28, 2026): “Kolkata’s Id-ul-Azha celebrations this year were marked by a major shift in venue, moving from the traditional Red Road to the Brigade Parade Ground for the morning prayers. The festival also witnessed no public slaughter of animals after a May 13 notification by the West Bengal (…)

• Keeladi, Tamil Pride and India | M.R. Narayan Swamy

  14 July, by M R Narayan Swamy

  Keeladi! Rarely has any archaeological find generated as much emotion as Keeladi did since the discovery, during the British Raj, of the civilizational ruins at Harappa, now in Pakistan.
  Historians had always believed that large-scale urban life in India first emerged in the north, in the greater Magadha region of the Gangetic basin, from around 600 BCE. South India, by contrast, was thought to have urbanized much later, only around 300 BCE.
  The discovery of Keeladi shattered all that, (…)

• Article 30 and the Legitimacy of Minority Institutions | Malavika Menon

  14 July

  The Indian Constitution is unique as it grants Cultural and Educational Rights by way of Articles 29 and 30 as fundamental rights. Article 30 in particular, guarantees to religion and language based minorities, the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. This was in keeping with many schools and colleges in colonial India which served as traditional institutions of learning, at times combining subjects of both, a denominational and secular nature. Article (…)