 Hello and welcome to Dispatches from India, a show by People's Dispatch, where we bring you what Indians are talking about, some of the major issues in the country, and the impact it will have on politics, economy, and society. We first begin with our News This Week section. In our first story, over 800,000 bank workers took part in a two-day strike on Thursday and Friday against a proposed law that might lead to the privatisation of banks. A bill introduced in Parliament will allow for a reduction in the government's take in banks to less than 50%, effectively paving the way to privatisation. The nationalisation of banks in the late 60s had led to a huge increase in coverage for the poor of India, and bank employees and the public fear that this move by the government to reverse it will also lead to the reversal of these gains. We bring you a ground report from this protest. The main purpose of this is to sell the country's property to the poor, so that the benefits of these banks can be earned by themselves, and that the common people of the country can benefit from the banks. Why are we in this job? We are here to serve the poor. Our motive is to serve the poor, and the rich. Banks are an organisation of this world, which does the poor and profits the poor. If you ask us sometimes that you are not paying the profit, if you start pushing us to pay the profit, then it will be a waste of money. Because to earn a profit of 40% and to earn a profit of 50% is not for the government. It is for the service of the country. If we reach the poor and every house is ours, our motive is not ours. It is for the people. If we private all the things, then where will the common people go? If the leaders of the government, like Indira Gandhi, had adopted, then what was the purpose of it? Where has the country taken it from? On the contrary, they are privatising it. Where they should have stormed it, they are destroying it. And as far as the strike is concerned, one or two days of strike, this is an eye-opener for the government. If the government does not even want this strike, then we will go for an indefinite strike. Our next story is one of anguish and dejection. Two words that describe the situation of many working-class families in India during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This ground report is from the state of Uttar Pradesh and it's a one-such-man, Pyaarelal. During the first year of the pandemic, Pyaarelal died by suicide due to a lack of proper livelihood, his family members claim. He had performed various menial jobs during the pandemic to get by and in his free time even tutored young children in the village who had been completely cut off from learning due to the digital divide. The video of this story paints a clear picture of the state of unemployment in the country and the ghastly effects of the pandemic on the poor. Pyaarelal sir was a little worried. I was so educated that I was unable to find a job. Sometimes he used to sell samosas, sometimes he used to make amlets, he used to do his own business. Sometimes he used to do his own business. Sometimes he used to do his own business. He could not tell anyone what he had been through. He was tensed that his sisters had gone to marry. He had to do his own business. He had to make a house for the poor. After Pyaarelal's death, no one was able to teach the children. I did not have money. My brother was a student and we used to get everything done in school. No one in my family used to teach. That is why I had to come to school. That is why you have to come to school? Yes. How did you get into school? No one knows about it. No. Since when did you not go to school? Since two years. In August 2021, 5.4% of the population in Uttar Pradesh is unemployed. The search for a job is poor and the cost is the biggest challenge of today's youth. According to the 2020 National Crime Record Bureau, more than 1.53 lakh people committed suicide last year. We now move on to our in-focus section where we take a deeper look at some key issues. We are going to be sticking with the pandemic. We are nearing the end of the year, but there is no end in sight when it comes to COVID-19. And in fact, we have a new variant Omicron. 2021 has been another year of despair for large sections of the population. The economic recovery has not been anywhere close to what was promised and an air of pessimism remains. This is reflected in some recent data which measures consumer sentiment and also the hopes and fears of consumers regarding the performance of the economy. Journalist Aninder Chakravarty takes us to this data which shows why the economy may still be some distance away from recovery. I am Aninder Chakravarty. There's a deep-seated pessimism that's hanging over India's economy and why is that important? Because to understand, we have to find out what drives an economy. And one of the key things that drives an economy is when consumers buy goods and services. Consumer sentiment in India is down right now. And this is, I'm quoting from the latest piece by Mahesh Vyas of CMI and all the data that you see here is available in his article that's come out in Business Standard. Some of you would have read it probably and some of it would be available on the RBI site as well. And I'm going to start with CMI's own estimate of consumer sentiment. And here's a graph which tells you what has happened to consumer sentiment ever since the COVID lockdown began. It literally fell off a cliff. So here you see from November 2019 to November 2021, two years. It fell off a cliff right after March and April and there it dropped. But it hasn't really recovered. So you're hearing that our GDP is recovering. It's almost back to where it was in 2019. But look at what is happening to consumer sentiment. It is 43% down from where it was in November 19. Two years ago, if it was at 100 today it is at 57. That's what has happened to consumer sentiment. Of course the index itself is slightly different. How many earned more this year compared to last year and you can see compared to November 19, 2019, this year that number is down 51%. 51%. That number is down right now. What happens is that even if people don't get enough money they have a sense that next year I'm going to do better. In general, if you look at RBI's data even if the number of people who did well in a particular year is low their expectation from the next year is higher. Even here we are saying what is the estimate as to how many people are going to earn more? Again here it is less than half the people who were surveyed and it is down 11% from November 2011. The interesting thing here is that in November 2019 and the interesting thing here is that in July 2020 actually that expectation went up. There was a hope that things are getting better within three months of the lockdown and since then the reality has turned out to be much worse and people have their expectation of pay has dropped sharply and it hasn't recovered at all so that's what we are saying that as long as this pessimism hangs over India's economy the recovery is not going to come that easily at least industrial recovery is going to take manufacturing recovery real estate recovery is going to take a much much longer time even if government continues to spend. For our final story we go to the state of Tamil Nadu in 2013 the state government established subsidized community kitchens for which they recruited women from rural areas promising them a steady livelihood this ground report is from one such kitchen in the district of Coimbatore in the state seven years later the women are working seven days a week for minimal wages however this is also the first of these kitchens where workers have formed a union affiliated with the centre for Indian trade unions or CITU they fought for better rights and even won some victories. Let's take a look My name is Renu and I am from the state. I have been working for 6 years for 6 to 7 years I used to work as a PTA teacher in my house and then I came here to get a job I have two children and they have gone to college My name is Kilaavathi I have two children My housekeeper is in a house I am a single person I have done this job and I have studied with my children My housekeeper is a tailor I used to work as a tailor I was in the house I don't know any other job I have done this job for 6 years I have a son I have a son I have a mother I have a son everyone is there My housekeeper is working in the state I am working as a tailor He comes at 6 in the morning and I come at 4 in the evening I like everything We do everything well We are interested in doing all of these We do all the work from cooking, washing, cooking We do everything From cooking We do everything We do everything I am the one who does everything I do everything We give food to the people We give food to the people We are giving good food to people who are healthy. We are giving good food to people who are healthy. We are giving good food to people who are healthy. Many people come out and eat. Many people come out and eat. Amma Unavagam workers are not eligible for the benefits of a worker because they work on behalf of their self-help groups. Provident fund, state health insurance, minimum wage and even leave is not granted to them. They work under even fewer benefits than contract workers. Yet, they work as many or even longer hours than employees do. We work without any fear. Mainly, we take it from us. Every day, we are in the middle of our work. On the first day, on the second day, on the fourth day of work, I get a bus at 6.10 in the morning. It is not light at all. I come every day by using a LED in the sunlight. Even during the day, I will be here at 6.10. I have even turned off the lights in the street lights. I get a bus at the roadside. Those people leave me and I have to get off the bus at the 가빴. That is the type of situation we should be in. Our family needs to be on the same level. Do we have a chance to get all of this? We have no other chances. We work without any fear. We just make money and do everything to buy it. People are telling the government that they will take you away from work. We will take you away from this arch. There is no fear like that. Until today, they have been there for us. They have been telling us that they will definitely take you away. We will take you away from this place. Because this is not a contact-based business. What they are telling us now is that they are telling us that they will take us away in January. Even if we were there, we would not be afraid of that. We will have faith that they will definitely help us. We have to find a place to work. We have to find a proper job. That is why we have started Sangam. We have been there. At that time, all the boys were there. I was the one who was there. One of the things that came to our mind was that we were going to work every week. I was the one who was there. I was the one who was there. Everyone was there. I was the one who was there. We have been working for 12 people. We have been working for 6-7 years. We have been asking for your permission to confirm us. If you are a government worker, they will give you a leave. They will give you a bonus. They will give you a pension if you are old. What is the purpose of this job? What is the purpose of this job? Who is the person who is living there? Who is the person who is living there? You have to take care of it. In the current situation, if we talk about how this mother world has become wet, it is very difficult. It is very difficult. There are many elderly people who are eating here. Many of them get up and go. We have to clean the water in the morning. We have to clean the water in the morning. A mother who was working in this mother world has become a current daddy when she is working. When she is working in this mother world she cannot work. She has to take care of her life. She has to come daily. Because if she had any medicines she would have been cured. Even now, she has spent a lot of money on her own. So, what is the purpose of this job? If you are a government worker, you should become a government worker like them. They have been doing this job for 6 years. They have been doing this job for 6 years. They are doing this job well. They are doing this job well. They are doing this job well. They are doing this job well. They are doing this job well. They are doing this job well. They are doing this job well. That is all. We have time for today. We will be back next week with more news from India. Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch.