All Indians Matter

India’s urban centres are expanding at breakneck speed, but its creaking transport systems are struggling. Traffic congestion, poor road safety, air pollution and lack of parking space are challenges that must be solved if we are to have sustainable urban growth. Sobia Rafiq and Sukhmani Grover, who are engaging with communities and working with the government to untangle the mess in Bangalore, sp...

The Union Government has failed us spectacularly with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah focusing on the election campaign in West Bengal rather than the health and economic crisis we are facing. It’s the common citizens who have stepped up to help. From awareness drives to finding hospital beds and oxygen to preparing meals for the afflicted and doing the grocery shopping for the aged, it’s ordinary fol...

Informal employment is largely the norm in India. While women make up only 23% of India’s informal employees, up to 91% of women in paid jobs are in the informal sector. This is a huge gender imbalance that also manifests itself in the form of pay gaps and other biases. Award-winning journalist Shalini Singh, who’s researched a series on what women informal workers are up against every day, speaks...

With the second wave of COVID-19 here, India’s preparedness is in question. We’re a vaccine manufacturing powerhouse but we suffer from a severe vaccine shortage. This has been compounded by a shortage of Remdesivir, the injectable anti-viral repurposed to treat COVID-19. It’s a double whammy that has implications not just for public health but for the economy too. Learn more about your ad choices...

Feminism is about ensuring all people are equal, regardless of gender. It is about women having power over themselves, about getting rid of dominance. In this context, parenting assumes great significance. Kiran Manral – author, TedX speaker, mother to a 17-year-old son – speaks to All Indians Matter about the role of parenting in relation to feminism – especially when it comes to raising sons. Le...

The government slashed interest rates offered by small savings schemes such as the Public Provident Fund and the National Savings Certificate, but hurriedly withdrew after realising it could anger voters in key states such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu which were going to the polls. Why are these schemes important? And why are they politically sensitive? Listen to the latest episode of All Indians...

India’s abysmal record on hunger has intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic after being worsened by demonetisation. A survey showed that 77% of tribal families, 76% of Dalits and 54% of Adivasis said their food consumption decreased in September-October 2020 as compared to the pre-lockdown period. Meanwhile, anaemia among women of reproductive age continues to soar – with 51.4% of those aged 15 t...

The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021, shifts the balance of power from a duly elected government to the Lieutenant-Governor, a Central Government appointee. This makes the votes of Delhi’s citizens meaningless. It’s an assault on India’s democracy and federal structure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, the V-Dem Institute declared India an ‘electoral autocracy’, pointing to a sharp decline in democratic freedoms. This is in line with what we’re seeing on the ground – the space for dissent, opposition, freedom of speech and other Constitutional rights is shrinking fast in India. Renowned rights and peace activist Harsh Mander decodes why and how this is happening on the latest episode o...

The new Medical Termination of Pregnancy law has some valuable provisions but why should women have to also justify their decision to abort a foetus and seek permission from others? It could also impose extra hardship and costs on women and, ultimately, bury their rights over their own bodies under layers of procedure. Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter. Learn more about you...

The National Register of  Citizens, or NRC, makes it extremely tough to prove citizenship – often disregarding documents generally considered valid for it. Those excluded from the NRC are to be lodged in detention centres, reminiscent of concentration camps. With the Assam Assembly elections scheduled for mid-April, the NRC is again being used to polarise the electorate. Anas Tanwir Siddiqi, a law...

There’s bad news on the employment front – India’s urban unemployment rate was 20.9% for the quarter ending June 2020. But, even these numbers might not capture the full extent of the turmoil in labour markets. India’s jobs landscape is tremendously fragile. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How COVID-19 affected slum-dwellers didn’t receive the attention it deserved. Loss of livelihood and congested conditions made them vulnerable on multiple levels. No wonder it was estimated in mid-2020 that 57% of slum-dwellers could be positive for coronavirus antibodies. Salma Memon, founder of the UMEED Foundation, who works extensively in the slums of Mumbai’s Malad suburb details the heartbre...

Expect better network coverage and data speeds, while 2G and 3G subscribers will get great offers to switch to 4G. But, are we also witnessing an emergence of a duopoly in India’s telecom market? Listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new rules governing digital content, news platforms and social media will fundamentally alter your internet experience and impact your rights. The key is the shift from regulation to control over digital news platforms, OTT content providers and social media. No wonder there are fears over the rules undermining free speech and privacy. Prasanth Sugathan, legal director of the Software Freedom...

In recent times, sedition cases have been filed against climate activists, journalists, social activists, comedians, politicians, student protestors and authors. Often, it’s used to discredit those that oppose the government or to silence dissent. What exactly is sedition and why is the law such a danger? Listen to the latest episode of the podcast. All Indians Matter Learn more about your ad choi...

We’re barely into 2021 but already, there have been at least eight internet shutdowns in India. The latest round followed the protest by farmers against three new agriculture laws. India shuts down the internet more than any other country – 106 times in 2019 with Venezuela, an authoritarian regime, a distant second with just 12 such instances. Most shutdowns occur during or after incidents of poli...

“If highlighting farmers’ protests globally is sedition, I am better off in jail.” With this, perhaps the most brave words spoken in India in the past seven years, 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi showed the country what courage is all about. A Delhi court granted her bail but it came only after she had spent several days behind bars after being charged with sedition for editing a digital d...

Perhaps never before have majoritarian forces been on the ascendant in this manner. One of the results of this is the systematic expansion and normalisation of communal violence. There is an urgent need to restore positive inter-faith relations but is that even possible when the government prides itself as a champion of majoritarian politics? Anirban Bhattacharya and Misbah Rashid, research schola...

In less than three years, a three-man crew will descend 6 km into the ocean in a tiny titanium alloy submersible to kick off India’s mission to mine the mineral riches of the sea floor. How will this collaboration between agencies like ISRO and the National Institute of Technology support India’s economic ambitions? And what are its implications on the fragile ocean ecology, coastal communities an...

When it comes to elections, the casting of the ballot is only the last piece in a jigsaw that has many interlocking pieces. The others include voter awareness, registration, motivation to vote and so on. As in all other walks of life, technology has played a growing role in each of these aspects. But it’s had its share of controversy too. Can technology revolutionise the way India votes? , a veter...

Why has the arrest of Dalit and labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur during the farmer protests sparked an international outcry? What does her arrest signify for you and the state of civil rights in India? Please listen to the latest episode of the podcast. All Indians Matter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest update to Whatsapp’s privacy policy has been controversial, to say the least. It’s also brought under the microscope the data collected by the apps and websites you use, how it’s gathered and what it’s used for. The Supreme Court has ruled that privacy is a fundamental right but is your data – gathered by various entities, including the government – truly secure? , volunteer legal couns...

needed to be a blockbuster and Finance Minister sought to deliver exactly that. If India was to tackle crippling economic and job losses, she needed to step up expenditure in a big way. Union Budget 2021 Nirmala Sitharaman While she claims to have done that, what she didn’t tell you is more critical than what she did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that consensual same-sex acts would no longer be a crime. The historic ruling finally read down Section 377, a colonial law that should have been struck down decades ago. But more than two years later, equality and acceptance may still be elusive. Gay rights activist speaks to .Nitin Karani All Indians Matter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...