Browsing by Author "Dr. Rinku Lamba, - Supervisor"

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Analysing irregular in elections to urban local bodies in India (1994 - 2023)
(National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 2023-10-18) Raghavan, Rishvanjas; Dr. Rinku Lamba, - Supervisor
In the wake of massive urbanisation in India, the local governance of these urban areas are of utmost importance. However, India’s urban local governance is plagued by several issues which hamper the quality of its governance––one of them being the lack of timely elections to municipal corporations, which results in the absence of local representatives. Most of the other issues concerning municipal governance are extensively researched, but there is currently inadequate scholarship on delayed elections, and no comprehensive quantitative study which can highlight the magnitude of delays to municipal elections across India. This study intends to fill that research gap, through a quantitative study of elections to all the 250 Municipal Corporations in India today. It sets out with the research questions: (a) How prevalent and extensive are delays in elections to municipal corporations in India? (b) What are the reasons for delays in these local elections and are any of these reasons common to the different corporations across India? (c) Are there any correlations between the characteristics of corporations and the irregularity in the conduct of their elections? Chapter 1 discusses the nature of the problem of urban local governance in India through an extensive literature review, along with a discussion of the theory around delayed elections. Chapter 2 describes this quantitative study and the results obtained. Chapter 3 provides an analysis of the reasons for delays and concludes with some insights for the future.
Anti-Defection Law in India: A Study of Three Major Lacunae
(National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 2023-09-27) Kulkharni, Shrihareesh; Dr. Rinku Lamba, - Supervisor
Indigenous resistance to hydropower dams in Sikkim : an analysis of public hearings
(National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 2023-10-18) Bhutia, Ringsel Ongmu; Dr. Rinku Lamba, - Supervisor
Despite the vast research on public hearings under Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), little is known about the association between indigenous resistance and public hearings of Sikkim’s indigenous community called the Lepchas of Dzongu. The overall image that emerges from the literature is an implementation gap of public hearings, and the negative connotation attached to the idea of development by the indigenous group. This study recovers the public hearings, experiences and aspirations of the Lepcha community through qualitative interviews by interviewing 32 Lepchas living in Dzongu, Sikkim, home to the most primitive tribe in Sikkim. An analysis of these interviews yields the Lepchas expectation that complicates and sometimes even challenges the widely held assumption of what constitutes an institutional mechanism such as public hearing in India. The aim is to identify the challenges of the indigenous people in public participation and interrogate a decade long indigenous resistance. Based on the interrogation, it has been confirmed that there is no association between the public hearing and resistance. As a result of India's ongoing conundrum of public hearing, it points to the lack of an accountability and inclusivity framework. This calls into doubt the democratic concept of public participation included in the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006 due to its inadequate support for being more inclusive and people-centric. The democratic principle of citizen involvement in decision-making is undermined by restricting public participation to only one stage of the development process. Overall, there is a problem with actual execution of the already-existing public hearing system. This begs the question of whether it's necessary to change the EIA framework to be more inclusive or whether we can urge for increased vigilance to improve implementation at the bottom.
Public service investments and their impact on electoral outcomes
(National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 2023-10-18) T, Ramanathan; Dr. Rinku Lamba, - Supervisor
Representation of people is the fundamental duty that every public representative is bound upon as the representative is considered to be held accountable through regular elections in a representative democracy. Such political representation must have citizens perspectives present in the policy process, in this case, to sanction and implement projects which enables their access to basic amenities and aids to the local development of the area. Advancing study on this domain would provide insights to the ways in which voters (constituents) can influence their public representatives to decide upon certain policy choice over the other. The outcome of this study could help one understand the strength of the relationship between a public representative’s policy choices (of course including its delivery) and the people’s support to the representative. It is noteworthy that a citizen’s vote is an impetus that could transform him/her from a common resident to the protagonist of the city (or neighborhood) on its wellbeing and its development. The research has three parts – the first part to understand what the concept of ideal representation means to the voters of Bengaluru through quantitative cum qualitative surveys, the second part to look whether there is presence of an aspect of retrospective voting among the voters and to see whether it has helped incumbent candidate(s) win their re-election bids using quantitative perception surveys and econometric analysis based on 2014 & 2019 general election results, and the third part to look at the aspect of public participation and utilization of public service delivery using a case study model through conducting in-depth interviews. Certain gaps and areas where there is a scope of improvement have been identified for which policy recommendations are given in the final part of this dissertation. Key words: Representation, Voter, Public service delivery, Infrastructural facility, Retrospective voting, Public participation.
To secede or not to secede : a narrative inquiry on the impact of the Bodoland movement across three generations of women
(National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 2023-10-18) Rongpipi, Srishti; Dr. Rinku Lamba, - Supervisor
The secessionist movements in Northeast India have had profound implications for the sovereignty, stability, and development of the region. However, the existing understanding of these movements is limited by the exclusion of women's narratives and perspectives. This study examined women's narratives to understand the nature of the Bodoland Movement and address the research gap in understanding the implications of secessionist movements on women's lives. A narrative inquiry method was used to interview 10 women directly affected or associated with the movement from two districts of the Bodoland Territorial Region. The study focused on women across three distinct age groups (generations) to capture diverse experiences and perspectives with respect to the movement. The findings revealed the pervasive presence of gender-based violence and intimidation against women during the movement, highlighting the urgent need for measures to address this issue. The research also highlighted the long-lasting effects of the movement on survivors and affected families, emphasising the importance of comprehensive support mechanisms. Socioeconomic disparities resulting from the movement were identified, necessitating initiatives to enhance access to education, livelihood opportunities, and equitable resource distribution. The study concludes with policy implications derived from the research findings, urging policymakers to prioritise gender-based violence prevention, support for survivors and affected families, women's empowerment, education, livelihood opportunities, addressing socioeconomic disparities, historical justice and reconciliation, and fostering future aspirations and opportunities.