Every day without fail for almost 50 days now, workers from all over the country gather at Jantar Mantar, singing songs of unity. Since Feb 2023, MNERGA workers from different states are coming to Delhi and protesting about a series of new policies that they believe will cut off the benefits of MNREGA in a significant way. 

In this episode, Sneha Richhariya goes to Jantar Mantar to speak to the protesting workers, activists, lawyers, and a tech researcher on how the Digital app-based attendance and aadhaar based payments that have been made mandatory for MGNREGA workers, are threatening the survival of the scheme on the ground. The episode also highlights a double whammy of the severe union budget cuts and a bad administrative run down. 

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

The Rajasthan Right to Health Bill was passed on March 21, 2023. The Bill charts out patient rights and provides a mechanism to ensure proper implementation of the rights. However, private doctors have been protesting this Bill. 

Suno India’s Menaka Rao tries to understand the discontentment. She spoke to Chhaya Pachauli, a health rights activist in Rajasthan representing Jan Swasthya Abhiyan in Rajasthan, a network of health rights activists and organisations across the country. She also spoke to Dr Tarun Patni, a practising pediatrician from Jaipur and former president of Jaipur Medical Association and Dr Ajay Chaudhary, president of the All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association that is supporting the strike.

Rajasthan government Bills & Acts
Right to Health Bill will create trouble… Health secy has brainwashed govt that they will get so many votes. They will not get any: Rajasthan IMA chief | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
With Right to Health Act, Ashok Gehlot seeks to build on his healthcare legacy, eyes a fresh term | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

In this episode, Sanaullah Khan speaks to women running small businesses in Hyderabad on how the increasing digitisation of payments is affecting them.
He also speaks to Shrikant Lakshmanan who is an expert in the field of digital payments and co-founded a consumer initiative called Cashless Consumer, which studies digital payments. 

Sanaullah Khan was an intern with Suno India.

References

Disconnected: How Digital India Is Leaving Women Behind

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5)

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Tourism contributes to more than 15 percent of jobs in India, as per 2022 figures by the Ministry of Tourism. The recent Union Budget was a mixed bag for this industry. The good news came from announcements to give a boost to domestic tourism. But for those who cater to international travel, the budget was disappointing. There is an increase in tax collected at source (TCS) from 5 percent to 20 percent. Domestic travellers who want to travel abroad will have to pay 15 percent more for TCS as compared to earlier- substantially increasing the costs. 

Independent journalist Aruna Chandaraju spoke to two senior persons from the travel industry from Hyderabad-Valmiki Hari Kishan and Siraj Ansari- who spoke about the consequences of this tax increase on the people from travel industry as well as potential international travellers from India

Reference

Tourism and Hospitality sector is one of the largest employment generating sector in India: Shri G Kishan Reddy
‘Mission mode’ for tourism in Union Budget, but no increase in allocation - The Hindu
INDIA TOURISM STATISTICS 2022

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

This is part 2 of a miniseries examining how the Central govt is limiting public access to information with laws and amendments. In the Data Protection Bill, the Central government has proposed an amendment for the RTI Act. With this amendment the government seeks to protect the privacy of lawmakers by changing 8.1 (j) section of the RTI Act. 

In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee is speaking to Nikhil Dey about how the Right To Information Act is being diluted over the years with various amendments and how that affects people seeking information about the government. Nikhil Dey is the founder-member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and the National Campaign For People's Right to Information (NCPRI).

Jan Soochna Portal | Rajasthan gov
RTI Act 2005, (amended) 
Attacks on RTI Activists in India 

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

TW: This episode contains mentions of suicide. 

In February 2023, 18-year-old Darshan Solanki ended his life barely three months into his Chemical Engineering course at IIT Bombay. In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Shreeja Rao, a first-year law student, about her experiences in educational institutions and the solutions needed so that students like her can achieve their dreams.

Months before Dalit student’s death, IIT-Bombay surveyed caste-discrimination on campus - The Hindu 
If IITs Had More Dalit Professors, Would Aniket Ambhore Be Alive? 
How India’s caste system limits diversity in science — in six charts | Nature
APPSC IIT Bombay tweets 
RTI Responses Provide Clear Proof of IITs Flouting Reservation Policy in Faculty Recruitment 

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

This is the second episode in the two-part series on the crackdown on child marriages in Assam. Since February 2, the Assam government has arrested more than 3000 people for violating the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Some were also arrested under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 or POCSO that can attract punishment up to life imprisonment. 

Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Bharati Ali about the consequences of this kind of punitive action against child marriage, Bharati Ali a child rights activist based in Delhi. She is the executive director of Haq Centre for Child Rights. The organisation has worked on prevention of child marriages at the community level. 

References
THE PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE ACT, 2006
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012
Crime in India 2021 | National Crime Records Bureau
GUIDELINES for 'MISSION VATSALYA' Scheme

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

On February 3, Assam’s chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched what he called “war against child marriage.” The state police has now arrested more than 3000 people who allegedly facilitated child marriages and said that about 5000 more people are still at large. Pranjal Baruah reported for this episode from Assam. This is the first podcast in the two part series on this subject.

In this episode we try to understand if this kind of crackdown benefits those who the state government wants to rescue- the women and girls who were married when they were children. We hear the stories of women who are protesting against this move, as well as child rights activists Miguel Das Queah and Bharati Ali from Haq: Centre for Child Rights.

References

THE PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE ACT, 2006
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5)
Status of IMR and MMR in India
SAMPLE REGISTRATION SYSTEM (SRS)-SPECIAL BULLETIN ON MATERNAL MORTALITY IN INDIA 2018-20

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

‘India: The Modi Question’ is a two-part documentary series by the BBC about the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his relationship with the Muslim minority in India. The government has used the emergency provisions of IT Rules 2021 to take down the documentary from websites as well as social media posts with links or snippets of the documentary. Screenings of the documentary in universities around the country have been disrupted by university administration and police. There are two petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the blocking of the documentary by the government. In February, there was an Income Tax survey at the BBC office in Delhi in which employees’ phones were taken and laptops were scanned by the IT Department.

This is part 1 of a miniseries on The Suno India Show examining how the Centre is limiting public access to information with laws and amendments. For this episode about the blocking of the BBC documentary, host Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Tejasi Panjiar an Associate Policy Counsel at the Internet Freedom Foundation. IFF is an NGO that advocates for digital rights and liberties, dealing with online freedom, privacy, net neutrality, and innovation.

MIB adviser's tweets declaring online ban 
Centre Violated Citizens' Right To Know By Blocking BBC Documentary On Modi : N Ram, Prashant Bhushan & Mahua Moitra Tell Supreme Court 
IT(Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 English.pdf 
Section 69A in The Information Technology Act, 2000 
BBC documentary ‘blocking’: Ruling in The Leaflet’s case becomes basis for challenge
'Emergency': From John Cusack to Prashant Bhushan, the List of 50 Tweets the Modi Govt Has Censored 
There is no ‘ban’ on the BBC Modi film, why are universities clamping down on it? | The News Minute 
Finding 404: A Report on Website Blocking in India | SFLC.in 
Indian tax authority raids BBC after critical documentary | CPJ Asia
Editors Guild India statement 
Public Feedback On Fact Checking Will Strengthen IT Rules: Minister 

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

The Union budget is presented every year in February. But how do we know that the budget allocations are equitable? While most budget speeches talk about “empowerment” of women and other marginalised genders, does this translate into policy? 

To answer these questions, Suno India’s Menaka Rao, spoke to Dr Vibhuti Patel. She is part of the Feminist Policy Collective, an independent network of feminist academic researchers, policy experts, and campaigners. Dr Patel has been with the feminist movement in India for decades, and is the vice-president of Indian Association for Women’s Studies. She retired from the Economics department Mumbai’s SNDT Women’s University. She also taught at Tata Institute of Social Sciences after retirement. 

References

Feminist Policy Collective
BUDGET 2023-2024 NIRMALA SITHARAMAN
37.4% increase in capital expenditure to 10 lakh crore in be 2023-24
Prabhat Patnaik writes: The budget has ignored the poor
STATEMENT 13 GENDER BUDGET MINISTRY/DEPARTMENT 2021-2022 Actuals 2022-2023 Budget Estimates 2022-2023 Revised Estimates 2023-202
Representation in Panchayats
What is keeping Indian women out of the workforce?
Kisan Credit Card (KCC)
SUVs bought with Nirbhaya Fund diverted to provide Y-plus security to Shinde legislators | Cities News,The Indian Express
‘Biased, erroneous’: Centre rejects hunger index report | Latest News India - Hindustan Times

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.