This week, TypeRight looks into the WHO's report on actual COVID fatalities and the reporters who were helping fight the cover-ups; we also look into the Right Digitalisation project we were part of with IT For Change, BKS and IFF; and we also take a brief look into what's happening in Sri Lanka.

Last week, the World Health Organisation released a report that said all countries, India included, have misreported the fatalities from COVID-19, and that the numbers are much higher than previously expected. In India's case, the numbers were closer to 10X. If these numbers are hard to understand, this six-panel sketch from Sanitary Panels would help put things into perspective:

While the WHO now says the global death toll is closer to 15 Million, India has of course refuted the claims. The BBC Report from the above tweet explains why India's total count may never be known:

About half the total deaths occur at home, especially in villages. Poor record-keeping means that out of 10 million deaths every year - based on demographic studies and estimated by the UN - seven million do not have a medically certified cause of death and three million fatalities are simply not registered. Women are undercounted and registration is especially low in the poorest states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

But India, say researchers, also refuses to make basic pandemic data public - breakdown of cases, hospitalisations and deaths by age, sex and vaccination status. Without reliable data on death numbers, it becomes difficult to confirm whether the successful vaccination programme is, in fact, reducing deaths.

Of course, those in power need to be held accountable for the losses that may have been avoided, and everything points to how they are trying to clear their tracks. But the data needs to be open and available for research transparently for other reasons:

In the 1930s, a big uptick in lung cancer death rates among men, recorded in routine data in the US and UK, led to identification of smoking as one of the major causes. In the 1980s, a surge in deaths among young gay men in San Francisco was picked up by the death registration system and led to the identification of HIV/Aids, marking the onset of a global epidemic.

The government of course, is quite famous for not opening up much, keeping secrets, and not holding press conferences. In fact, even last week, during a meeting in Germany, the media were not allowed to ask questions:

As said earlier, this trend isn't really new, but has been the way, back since 2014, as this old article would highlight:

Modi takes tea, but no questions, in first press event as PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took tea, but no questions, on Saturday at his first staged meeting with the press since coming to power five months ago, underscoring the delicate relationship he has with the fourth estate.

reuters.com

Even as India falls down the Press freedom ranking (to 150/180), and the government is stifling media and dissent, a few brave journalists are being recognized internationally for their work.

Why is India falling in the World Press Freedom Index? | DW | 05.05.2022

India fell eight places in the World Press Freedom Index, down to 150 out of 180 countries. Critics say the ranking reflects increased pressure and violence against journalists.

dw.com

Danish Siddiqui, Adnan Abidi, Sanna Irshad Mattoo and Amit Dave from the Reuters news agency won The Pulitzer Prize for “images of COVID’s toll in India.” Here are some of their award winning photojournalism that brought out the truth, even as the government was covering up their fatal negligence:

Meanwhile, this clip from Germany, when forced to respond to the media has become a meme on social media:

On April 30th, 2022, a cross-sectoral event 'right digitalization - where digitalization was going wrong and how to right' was organized by IT for Change, Internet Freedom Foundation and the Bharath Krishak Samaj. The session explored the directions digitalization was taking on health, education, agriculture, e-commerce, and labour. The session on education was organized by the All India Forum for Right to Education, Digital Empowerment Foundation, Right to Education Forum, and IT for Change.

From our side, DEF spoke about how the increased reliance on online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic impacted first-generation learners from tribal and remote areas as the parents found it difficult to provide supplementary offline learning further widening inequalities even when access issues were addressed.

The participants also discussed predatory data practices by private ed-tech and how to counter them. There was a consensus that ed-tech platforms whether public or private, can't be an alternative for teacher-facilitated learning. The participants also agreed that data harvested via supplementary ed-tech platforms should be inclusive, and representative and must be used to strengthen the public education system.

Tackling other issues happening in how digitalisation was going, the meeting also had representatives from alternatives to the major platform apps. People from Rezoy, for instance, spoke of how the platform economy relying on Swiggy or Zomato was not just having a toll on the workers, but also on small businesses and restaurants who cannot match up to the demands and commissions of the apps.

Rezoy is an app launched by the restaurant owner's association in Kerala and intends to combat the losses they face through the more popular apps.

Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association launches Rezoy food delivery app

Starting with Kochi, Rezoy — launched by Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association — is set to start full operations in other parts of the State. We explore how the app works and why it benefits the industry:

thehindu.com

Similar attempts were also made in the past to build platform-apps that give greater sense of dignity, control and rights to the cab-driver or the platform worker.

In Kerala, Uber and Ola face competition from state's biggest business-house: the Communist Party

The party's union has decided to join the taxi business with an app of its own.

scroll.in

However, presently the gig economy seems to be in one of its most exploitative states, as Shaik Salauddin, General Secretary of the IFAT had mentioned in the talk, and in our earlier TypeRight.

Facing months of acute economic crisis, hyperinflation and government inaction, protestors have taken to the streets demanding the resignation of leaders and practical solutions. Last day, during a protest, protesters were shot and killed. As the Hindu reported,

A legislator from Sri Lanka’s ruling party shot dead an anti-government protester and then took his own life during a confrontation outside the capital, police said Monday. Amarakeerthi Athukorala opened fire and critically wounded two people blocking his car in the town of Nittambuwa, police said, adding that one of the victims died of his injuries.

The Prime Minister's ancestral home was set on fire by angry protesters, and finally was forced to resign last day.

Here is a conversation we at DEF had with Chitranganie Mubarak from Sri Lanka on the crisis there.

In Other News

This powerful video shared by Suchitra Vijayan of The Polis Project shows how people were standing up to the British Home Secretary on the issue of refugees:

The IFF reports yet another internet shutdown, this time from Rajasthan:

And the Indian Government has demanded VPNs collect and hand over user data to the government, failing to do so might see them facing legal actions. VPNs are powerful tools for dissent and bypassing censorship laws.

DEF Updates

From Smartpur's financial literacy programs:

From our digital literacy programs in Delhi and Haryana:

Creative Dignity and DEF is launching a program 'Artisan Digi-Preneurship' on the 12th of May:

Here is Osama Manzar's message inviting everyone to join the event; we hope to see all of you there!

With the pandemic still very much a reality we continue to spread #COVIDAwareness:

See you again next week with the latest updates in the digital world!