Section 153A wasn’t part of the original penal code but was introduced via an amendment. It remains in the IPC because of its use as a tool to suppress free speech and political opponents. Until it goes, it will continue to shrink our fundamental rights. Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mere existence of elections does not mean we have a truly representative democracy. They need to be free and fair. We need electoral reforms to fix problems ranging from the use of money and divisive campaigns to mandates being twisted and cast aside through the splitting of parties. Most important of all, electoral reforms are needed to preserve citizens’ trust in democracy.  What are these reforms? Dr Yugank Goyal, who teaches public policy and is the co-author of the book ‘Who Moved My Vote?’, speaks to All Indians Matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Edtech exploded onto the scene as COVID-19 shut India down. It was hailed as a shining star in India’s red-hot startup economy. But now it’s reeling from an avalanche of bad news: complaints about service quality, misleading marketing, even outright cheating. The latest: edtech firms are laying off staff by the thousands. What can they do to rebuild trust? Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Santosh Ram’s short film, ‘Prashna’, is a poignant, emotional piece of storytelling about migrant sugarcane workers and their families, told through the eyes of one mother and her son. Every year, more than six lakh people from Marathwada migrate within Maharashtra or to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to cut sugarcane. They have neither formal contracts nor rights. They live in pitiable conditions and they and their children are often exploited by middlemen. Santosh speaks to All Indians Matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WPL will not only unlock and expand the commercial value of women’s cricket, it will lead to the development of the women’s game at the grassroots level. For advertisers, it’s likely to deliver a lucrative audience that includes teenage to young women. Maybe the BCCI should have launched the league sooner?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that regional rural banks, or RRBs, have 28.3 crore depositors and 2.6 crore borrowers? They were created to provide rural areas with basic banking services, and they also disburse pensions and NREGA wages. With the government infusing Rs 10,890 crore to recapitalise RRBs, greenlighting their listing on stock exchanges and pushing operational reforms, can they become booster rockets for financial inclusion? And why are RRBs so critical to the rural and overall national economy? Davinder Sandhu, who has more than 35 years of experience in policy formulation and is co-founder and chairman of advisory firm Primus Partners, speaks to All Indians Matter. Davinder has also been Sector Director for Transport and Disaster Management at the PMO, Country Representative at the Executive Board of the World Bank Group and Head of Network Operations at the Indian Railways.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The flagship rural jobs scheme has provided a lifeline to homes hurting from unemployment and soaring inflation. The slashing of its budget to Rs 60,000 crore has been dubbed an “assault” on people’s right to work. What impact will the lower allocation have on rural families and the overall economy? Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Elgar Parishad case, in which several activists have been accused of making speeches that led to violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune in 2018, drags on. Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde, lawyer-activist Sudha Bhardwaj and poet Varavara Rao have got bail, but only after spending years in prison. But others, such as Vernon Gonsalves, continue to languish behind bars.

Eighty-four-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, meanwhile, died in custody on July 5, 2021. What does this case tell us about human rights in India and about the effectiveness – or lack of it – of the judiciary?

Susan Abraham – a lawyer who’s been at the forefront of the legal battle, human right activist and wife of Vernon Gonsalves – speaks to All Indians Matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reports say that Indian technology firms will lay off 80,000 to 1.2 lakh employees over the next two quarters. No wonder Indian workers, caught between rising inflation and job insecurity, are on edge. Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ angers Narendra Modi because it strikes at the heart of what he’s obsessed with: his international image. He hungers to be seen as someone who matters not only because he happens to be the prime minister of India but who is respected globally in his own right. It’s why he spends so much time on foreign tours, goes the extra mile to get pictures shot with world leaders. The documentary shows him as the opposite of someone who should be respected on the world stage, as someone you’re forced to engage with only because he is India’s prime minister. What this documentary portrays is that he’s an authoritarian, not a moral, leader and that he’s anything but a vishwaguru. Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices