On the Contrary by IDR

How can anti-caste allyship move beyond lip service and cede power? In this episode, Christina Dhanaraj and Dhanya Rajendran discuss what it really means to be an anti-caste ally, the role institutions must play, and why caste-marginalised people should take centre stage in the anti-caste movement. Highlights While affirmative action has played a role in bringing caste-marginalised people into for...

Have gender attitudes really changed in our country? In this episode, writer and professor Nivedita Menon speaks with Sujata Khandekar, founding director of CORO, about gender identities and norms, the need to challenge them, and how we can change traditional attitudes towards gender. Highlights While there have been certain visible shifts in gender attitudes, these have not been uniform for all w...

Is mental health and well-being an individual or an organisational responsibility? In this episode, Raj Mariwala, director at Mariwala Health Initiative, and Santrupt Misra, director of Group HR at Aditya Birla Group, discuss the importance of talking about mental health at work and how organisations can be more inclusive. Highlights  Mental illness is often treated just like physical health, that...

Dr Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and Dr Sangita Reddy, joint managing director of Apollo Hospitals, talk about India’s public health system—what the largest gaps are, where the greatest needs are, and what the role of private players and the public sector needs to be. Highlights We need to identify the largest gaps in India’s healthcare system and priori...

In this episode, Hari Menon, who heads the India office of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Vineet Rai, founder and chairperson of Aavishkaar Group, discuss all things social impact—what it means, how the investing world calculates it, and why we need to expand our definition of what ‘counts’ as impact. Highlights  What social impact means, how we should measure it, and what needs to chang...

Kiran Karnik, former president of NASSCOM, and Osama Manzar, co-founder of Digital Empowerment Foundation, discuss the promises and pitfalls of technology, the gaps in its application in India, and the role the government can play in making access to technology more equitable. Highlights (for the app only): How digital technologies have enabled people, even in the remotest parts of India. Why we c...

What makes a city liveable? Who should benefit the most from the growth of a city—financial investors or its residents? On this episode, Sheela Patel, director of SPARC, and Ireena Vittal, former partner at McKinsey, answer these questions and more. Highlights: Who are our cities built for? Whose voices do we prioritise in order to plan our cities better? Climate change is not a separate space, bu...

In this episode, we discuss how global climate policy is made, how it negatively impacts communities on the ground, and what needs to change when it comes to policy at a national level. Speakers include Nitin Desai, Indian economist and key draftsman of the landmark Brundtland Commission report, and Ulka Kelkar, Director of the Climate programme at World Resources Institute. Highlights How is clim...

Microbiologist and virologist, Dr Gagandeep Kang speaks with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder-chairperson of one of India’s largest pharmaceutical companies, about India’s flawed vaccine roll-out, and the trade-offs between patents and pricing.  Highlights India’s vaccine roll-out programme: How does one decide who gets priority and who does not? What does the Indian government need to do to ensur...

Politician and educator, Atishi Marlena, and founder of some of India’s leading educational institutions, Pramath Raj Sinha talk about the purpose of education in a rapidly changing world. Can government schools provide a ‘good’ education to our children? Is the private sector the answer to a failing system? What are our children and youth really learning in their schools and colleges? All this an...

Nachiket Mor, expert in health systems design, and Dr Abhay Bang, public health expert with deep experience working at the grassroots, debate the approach India must take when fighting the second wave of COVID-19. Mor is in favour of a more centralised approach, grounded in science and trust. On the contrary, Bang believes local communities know best when it comes to their problems. Highlights – ...

Given the dire crisis that our country is facing because of the second wave of Covid-19, On the Contrary is taking a break this week. If you would like to support the fight against COVID-19, check out this page ( https://idronline.org/covid-19-in-2021-latest-updates-for-the-social-sector/ ) on IDR that is a repository of information, insights, and asks from social sector organisations/collectives...

In the race for economic growth, who wins and who loses? In this episode, Bittu Sahgal, environmental activist and writer, and TV Narendran, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Steel, discuss the conflict between the economy, industry and environment. Highlights –  The need to move beyond GDP and economic growth to include environmental indicators when assessing a country’s performance. What has bee...

In this episode, business leader and ex-President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Naushad Forbes, speaks with former journalist and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani, about what a good market looks like. They discuss what markets must include, whom they should serve, and the role they must play in enabling inclusive economic growth. Highlights –  - There’s a need to create a better balance b...

Yashica Dutt, journalist and author of Coming out as Dalit, and Ashif Shaikh, Dalit activist and leader of Jan Sahas, have a conversation about caste-based violence and oppression, manual scavenging, dignity, the Black Lives Matter movement, and, what it means to be an ally in the fight against caste hierarchy. Highlights – The vulnerabilities faced by Dalit women, and their needs. How to fight ca...

Manish Sabharwal, Chairperson and Co-founder of Teamlease argues that in order to compete in a global economy, India needs greater productivity and formal employment. Renana Jhabvala, best known for her long association with SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) where she organised women into trade unions, argues the opposite. India’s informal economy is large and here to stay, and our labour l...

Former Agriculture Secretary Siraj Hussain and leader of a farmer collective, Kavitha Kuruganthi, discuss the ongoing farmer protests and what they tell us about dissent, and the process of consultation and policy reform in India. Highlights – Why the process of consultation with farmers failed What policymakers seemed to have missed, while making these reforms How citizens should protest in a dem...

Welcome to India Development Review's podcast, On the Contrary, a show that brings you a better understanding of the most pressing issues of our time by listening to informed yet differing perspectives. In every episode, host and thought leader, Arun Maira brings two experts from different fields, regions, and worldviews to explore their similarities and differences on a topic, to find a new, shar...