Civil Society Magazine - December 2019

In this issue

You might ask why we chose to go to Dharamshala to cover a film festival as our cover story. It is our experience at this magazine that the interesting things we discover invariably happen to be far from the big cities. The film festival at Dharamshala is a small and intrepid effort which deserves a place on our cultural map. In fact this year it might just not have been held for want of sponsorships. Spirited local organisations and individuals didn’t let it die.
There is much concern these days about the lack of jobs in the Indian economy and it is true that there isn’t enough employment for a growing number of young people. An economic slowdown brings long-term problems. If an example of successful action is needed one should turn to Youth4Jobs, an organisation Meera Shenoy founded seven years ago. Her team puts 10 disabled young people into jobs every day. Over seven years 18,500 have found employment. How has this been made possible?
Meera has got many things right. The training given to disabled young people is intense and practical; for meaningful transformations. Someone learning to use computers and acquiring life skills begins to immediately feel empowered. Finally, skills are customised to suit jobs available. Employment programmes work when driven by demand. Meera has shown that it won’t do to duck challenges. She has chosen to work with disabled young people in villages. It doesn’t get tougher than that.
A national report on India’s justice system is out and we interviewed Shireen Vakil and Valay Singh, who anchored the process in the Tata Trusts. Several organisations came together for the first time to make the report possible. We now have baseline information on the access to justice in all the states of the country. It is a sorry picture that emerges, which was already evident, but will the report lead to improvements and how soon, is the question.

Civil Society Magazine Description:

Civil Society is an independent magazine published from New Delhi.

It was launched in September 2003 to tell stories of change from across the chaotic landscape of post-reforms India.

A newly growing economy has winners and losers — as journalists we wanted to tell the stories of those who were making it and as well as those who were getting left behind.

In the past 15 years, Civil Society has come to be known for its refreshing style of covering people, events and trends. We are credited with redefining mainstream concerns in the Indian media.

Civil Society's reportage has brought to national attention individuals and groups who play leadership roles and drive change but get overlooked. We have shown that there is an India that exists beyond prime time.

This has been possible because we moved out of big media jobs to create a small and efficient enterprise through which journalists could look for stories where it may not be fashionable to look for them.

A democracy thrives on credible information. Small media entities, freed up from the demands of big capital, allow journalists to innovate and explore new frontiers. A large and complex country like India needs more alternative voices.

Started with just Rs 4 lakhs (about $6,000) of personal savings, one small car and a single computer, Civil Society has shown that it is possible for professional journalists with skills and clear values to build influential enterprises in the media.