The Suno India Show

The Centre's Department of Commerce has proposed to replace the Tea Act 1953 with Tea (Promotion and Development) Bill 2022. The Department of Commerce is seeking public comments on the draft Bill till March 9th – the date was extended from 21st January. While the government says that the Bill seeks to modernise the Tea laws and remove parts that have become redundant, trade unions say that the new Bill makes tea estate workers more vulnerable than before.  On this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Virginius Xaxa, a visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi. Xaxa grew up on a tea estate himself and has written extensively on labour rights and tribal rights in the country. They discuss the history of tea estates, workers’ rights and Tea Bill 2022. Draft Tea Promotion and Development Bill 2022 Revised.pdf Tea Plantation Workers | Centre for Communication and Education. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

In India, marital rape is not yet a crime and like anywhere else a sensitive topic to deal with for policymakers, rights activists, lawmakers alike. But the data is staggering. If we were to talk of violence against women in absolute numbers, according to the Indian government’s latest National Family Health Survey, about 30% of Indian women aged 18-49 reported having experienced spousal violence. Let that sink in! In terms of sexual violence, the average Indian woman is 17 times more likely to face sexual violence from her husband than from anyone else, according to the survey of 724,115 women. Marital rape is back in the spotlight as the Delhi High court is listening to a series of petitions demanding that it be criminalised. But what does that actually mean for the feminist movement and women’s rights in the country? For this episode of The Suno India Show, Padma Priya, editor-in-chief of Suno India spoke with Dr Ranjana Kumari, Director of Centre for Social Research India on this issue.See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

In the second episode of the series on the hijab issue in Karnataka’s schools, we talk about how it adversely affects education. As per the recent surveys, there has been an uptick in the number of Muslim girls and women seeking education in schools and colleges across the country. But Muslim girls still have to face prejudice of being conservative, of not being interested in education, among others. In this episode, Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Saba Hussain, assistant professor in Education and Social Justice, at the University of Birmingham in the UK. She conducted research on school going Muslim girls in Assam. A book on this research was published in 2019 called Contemporary Muslim Girlhoods in India: A Study of Social Justice, Identity and Agency in Assam. References  Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of Indiahttps://twitter.com/PriyankaRudrapa/status/1493832129234423808?s=20&t=PG-nv0YSWUVK3ybpLdPt1APetitioners in hijab row seek postponement of practical exam – The Hinduhttps://twitter.com/MuslimSpaces/status/1495390625130180609?s=20&t=PG-nv0YSWUVK3ybpLdPt1ASteady uptick in Muslim girls going to schools, colleges.Dr Saba Hussain – School of Education – University of BirminghamSee sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

The hijab controversy has engulfed Karnataka, Many schoolgirls and teachers are not being allowed to enter classrooms with their hijabs on. The Karnataka High Court who is hearing the petitions filed by some Muslim students is asking the question- whether hijab is an essential garment for Muslims. We have a two-part series on this issue. This is the first episode. In this episode, Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to  Heba Ahmed, a PhD student from Jawaharlal Nehru University who strongly defends her right to wear a hijab. She  also spoke to Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali, a reputed scholar of Islamic Studies who retired from St Xavier's College, Mumbai. She is also the founder of the World Institute of Islamic Studies for Dialogue, Organisation of Mediation and Gender Justice or Wisdom Foundation. While Dr Zeenat regrets the way the issue has been politicised, as a scholar of Islamic studies, she is of the opinion that wearing hijab is not mandatory in the religion.See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Union Budget 2022-23 comes at a time of rising inflation while we continue to grapple with the pandemic. Total government expenditure has increased by only Rs 1.75 lakh crore, from Rs 37.70 lakh crore in 2021-22 (Revised Estimate) to Rs 39.45 lakh crore in 2022-23. The budget has focused on capital expenditure rather than safety nets for the needy. Rs 7.5 lakh crores has been allocated to capital expenditure, with a 35% increase from last year’s allocation of Rs. 5.5 lakh crores. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act programme for example, is pegged at Rs 73,000 crore, lower than Rs 98,000 crore in 2021-22 (Revised Estimate) and Rs 1,11,000 crore in 2020-21. In this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Avani Kapur, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research where she leads the Accountability Initiative. She explains how the budget has accommodated social welfare in terms of health, education, jobs and food security. Show notes: Economic Survey Union Budget The Inequality Virus: How The Indian Government Helped Widen Our Wealth Gap – Suno India See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Ever since the pandemic started, a lot of employees are realising that their bosses don’t care enough about their health and safety. People are forced to come to work even when cases are peaking, until they catch the virus themselves or the government forces offices to close. But such experiences reveal something deeper about how employee rights in private companies have been eroded. In fact, it was during the pandemic that the government introduced new labour codes. These four codes are set to replace 29 labour laws.  In this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Sucheta De, the National Vice President of All India Central Council of Trade Unions, and Anjali and Abhishek who share their experiences from work. The latter two are anonymous and these names are aliases. Anjali’s voice has also been changed to protect her identity. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Only about 65% of the eligible Indian population above the age of 18 has completed both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination. With the third wave setting in, many governments announced different kinds of punitive measures for not having completed vaccines. In Kerala, the state will not provide free treatment for those not vaccinated fully. Some states such as Delhi and Maharashtra have made it compulsory for government employees to be vaccinated. In Haryana entry into banks, malls, and other public places is not allowed if you are not fully vaccinated. In the past, we have had local governments announce stopping of ration, or other social security measures.  Do such measures work? The question becomes even more important as the government announced vaccination for teenagers between the age of 15-18 and an additional protective dose for health workers and senior citizens. Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Sunita Sheel Bandewar and Dr Prabir Chatterjee. Sunita is one of the working editors of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics and an independent researcher in the area of bioethics and global health. Dr Chatterjee is a senior public health professional and was director of State Health Resource Centre, a technical support institute for the state’s health ministry. Show notes Press briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19, Dated: 05.01.2022No free Covid treatment to unvaccinated, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan | Thiruvananthapuram News – Times of IndiaData | India falls short of December 31 vaccination target – The HinduAEFI Reports | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | GOISee sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

On this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Dr Dileep Mavalankar, the Director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, and Member Secretary of Gujarat State Task Force for COVID.  They discuss how omicron is different from earlier variants of the coronavirus, from symptoms, treatment to precaution. And how this varies depending on comorbidities and vaccination. Tune in to hear how you can take care of yourself in this wave.  Show notes: Early third wave data from Mumbai: Severity low, oxygen needs low, but puzzling hospitalisation rate'Who will treat patients?': Staff shortages loom as Omicron infects doctors and hospital workersAs patients and staff infect each other, hospitals struggle to contain spread of Covid-19See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Jacklin and Amali, two sisters who battled mental illnesses, are at the heart of an initiative to provide housing to women like them — those who suffer from mental ailments, grief, and homelessness. Their lived experiences breathe love and empathy into this initiative, which recently found a mention in a World Health Organisation report! The host of this episode, Hariprasad Radhakrishnan, travels to Tiruchi to understand the challenges in access to mental health care in rural areas and why the housing model is unique. He also spoke with Dr Pallab Kumar Maulik, Deputy Director and Director of Research, the George Institute of Global Health, Javits J. Rajendran, Associate Director, Partnerships and Communication at The Banyan and Rashi, Director (Communication and Strategy) at The Alternative Story to understand the range of sociological factors that make women more vulnerable to mental health illnesses and how the ‘Home Again’ model developed.  Show notes:Gender and women’s mental healthSee sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

As Mumbai police and now Delhi police catch alleged masterminds of the apps that virtually auctioned Muslim women, what took so long? Is it simply public pressure that led to the breakthroughs this time around? Or is the delay due to the difficulty of catching anonymous perpetrators online?  For an answer to these questions, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Karan Saini, a security researcher and a public interest technologist for this episode of The Suno India Show. Karan takes us through his own research of Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai, and what the police can do in this case involving US-based internet platforms.See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.