Cast(e) Iron By Shreya Basak
Listen to excerpts from Outlook's India, that is Bharat issue by Pragya Vats
#IndiaOrBharat #Elections #Politics #Controversy #StateElections #INDIAAlliance #BJP #ElectoralNarrative #BharatVsIndia #PublicOpinion #PoliticalLandscape #MadhyaPradeshElections #RajasthanElections #TelanganaElections #ChhattisgarhElections #MizoramElections
#IndiaOrBharat #Elections #Politics #Controversy #StateElections #INDIAAlliance #BJP #ElectoralNarrative #BharatVsIndia #PublicOpinion #PoliticalLandscape #MadhyaPradeshElections #RajasthanElections #TelanganaElections #ChhattisgarhElections #MizoramElections
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00 I am Pragya and I bring to you excerpts from the current issue of Outlook, titled India
00:05 that is Bharat.
00:06 It looks at the ongoing state elections as a critical test of unity between the Congress
00:11 and its allies in the India coalition and whether the opposition combined can take on
00:17 the might of the BJP in the elections 2024.
00:21 Cast Iron by Shreya Basak of Outlook in a ground report from Rajasthan.
00:25 Rajasthan's electoral discourse has always been about the twin phenomena of caste and
00:32 community politics.
00:34 This election is no different.
00:36 Kenku 50 hurries back to her hut after drawing about 8 buckets of water.
00:42 While she was drawing the precious liquid from the depths of the heated bowels of Rajasthan's
00:47 dry earth, 6 other women had kept her company, vigorously drawing their own share of water.
00:54 Kenku rushes back to apply ointment over the burned skin of her neighbor's son.
00:59 The little boy, who constantly cries in pain, has sustained severe burns after a pot of
01:04 boiling milk fell on his right leg.
01:07 His mother is probably kilometers away, working at a construction site.
01:13 Medical facilities are scarce, which has worsened the wound.
01:16 Water is scarce too, forcing Kenku to ration the quantity of water she can use to regularly
01:22 clean the wound.
01:23 In Ramdev Nagar village in western Barmer, water is a precious commodity, carefully utilized
01:29 for drinking, cooking and feeding cattle, but seldom for cleaning and washing.
01:35 In the Shioh constituency's Tha Desert pocket, Ramdev Nagar, located in Rohidala Gram Panchayat,
01:42 showcases the severe water crisis afflicting Rajasthan's more densely populated pockets.
01:49 Desperate cries for water begin before the break of dawn and continue till noon.
01:54 Groups of women in and around villages to date walk for hours to fetch water.
02:00 The Bedi's, the borewell, built by the government, dry up in summer.
02:04 The tanks, constructed for holding rainwater, are often caked with silt deposits, which
02:10 make water unpalatable in the hot season, when the tank runs shallow.
02:15 The big tanks, built at a few kilometers distance, often run dry as authorities fail to replenish
02:22 them.
02:23 Reverse osmosis machines with instructive government slogans on the importance of water
02:28 lie locked up in a state of disuse.
02:31 Walking to the neighboring village for water, dominated by upper castes, poses another set
02:36 of caste-oriented challenges.
02:39 Since 1952, multiple elections have been fought, but our only demand remains safe, clean and
02:46 regular drinking water, says Heeralal, a local villager and principal of a government senior
02:52 secondary school in the Gangaria block.
02:54 There are toilets built in almost every hut, but one may spot men and women walking distances
03:00 to defecate.
03:01 "What use are any of these latrines without water?" asks Ken Kool.
03:06 Water is primary to any development and its scarcity hampers various human needs and rights.
03:13 Reports indicate worsening safe drinking water availability due to climate change, disproportionately
03:19 affecting women and children.
03:22 Rajasthan, constituting 5.5% of India's population, has only 1.1% of the country's water resources.
03:31 Data from the summer of 2022 reveals that out of 285 blocks, 203 were over-exploiting
03:39 groundwater, highlighting the critical water situation in the state.
03:44 For 72 years, elections in Rajasthan have been fought on three issues - water, electricity
03:49 and roads.
03:50 Yet, it has been only a few years since electricity reached a few villages here.
03:56 "Not much luck with water," continues Heeralal.
03:59 During every election, tall claims promising "har ghar paani" - water in every home - take
04:05 centre stage, with every successive government committing to it.
04:10 For this and more, read the current issue of Outlook.