BehanBox

#BehanVox is our weekly flagship newsletter. Every Sunday, we bring you: ✅ 2 Original Reported Stories ✅ Gender news from India & the world ✅ Reads we recommend Join our growing community of readers today! behanbox.substack.com

2/ @pkotiswaran @Varna @BoldSilhoutte draw on their experience to locate cash transfers within the feminist agenda of valuing unpaid care labour. Moderated by @bhanupriya_rao Want to be a part of such conversations? Join the Feminist Election Newsroom: forms.gle/R11SX7RoNXJzbq…

1/ Who do India’s direct cash transfer schemes actually reach and who do they leave out? Watch the full BehanBox Feminist Election Newsroom conversation on cash transfers, welfare, electoral politics and state responsibility for India's care economy. youtube.com/watch?v=W4iWSy…

This week in #BehanVox: the hollowing out of digital citizenship, NEET cancelled, Uniform Civil Code (UCC) approved in Assam, and more. Also find: three brilliant recommendations from the team. Subscribe—BehanVox is dispatched every weekend: @behanbox/note/p-197822622?r=4li9m6" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@behanbox/note…

The algorithm is paying women to uphold patriarchy. Scholar @DevinaSarwatay speaks to @Saumya_Kalia about fauji wives, momfluencers and the pastel patriarchy that platforms incentivise — while Dalit, Muslim and trans users carry the cost. behanbox.com/2026/05/15/the…

On May 18, the Feminist Election Newsroom will host @tarauk, @AshweethaNellai and @SriramK362805 as they explore how women shaped TVK’s digital campaign, and what lies ahead for the political workers who built Tamil Nadu’s 2026 poll campaigns 🗓 Sign up: forms.gle/CuksotrqUgHzqW…

This week in #BehanVox: chaos and coalitions, a democratic experiment, radical feminist ideas in Telugu magazines and more. Also find: three brilliant recommendations from the team! Subscribe—BehanVox is dispatched every weekend: open.substack.com/pub/behanbox/p…

Census 2027 will be the first in nearly a century to collect detailed, nationwide caste data. But will it count caste privilege alongside caste disadvantage? Read our interview with Trina Vithayathil. behanbox.com/2025/08/18/cen…

Long before “feminist media” was a category, Telugu women were already running it. In, ‘Scripting a New Gender Politic: Telugu Women’s Journals, 1883–1960,’ Shaik Mahaboob Basha traces Telugu women’s writings in colonial India. Read excerpts now: behanbox.com/2026/05/07/pub…

2/ BehanBox is building a comprehensive FAQ to help citizens navigate Phase 3 of SIR. From checking your name on the rolls to filing an appeal – we will break down the process in plain language. Share the questions you want answered below or write to us at community@behanbox.com

1/ SIR Phase 3 has begun across 22 States and Union Territories. In Phase 2, ~91 lakh voters were deleted from rolls or placed under adjudication in West Bengal alone. What does Phase 3 mean for your voter status? 🧵

Social audits under the MGNREGA were an ambitious experiment in accountability. Today, the architecture is being hollowed out. Read the full piece on what India stands to lose: behanbox.com/2026/05/06/ins…

The percentage of women MLAs in the Kerala assembly has never exceeded 10%. No surprises this time too. Resharing a data story I did in 2021 for @BehanBox about women representation in Kerala Assembly. behanbox.com/2021/03/31/lon…

5/ Join us in the Feminist Election Newsroom as we collectively hold power to account – during elections and beyond. forms.gle/rFvoPGag5qhSHL…

4/ Party-wise, BJP leads with 24 women MLAs against AITC's 14, while zero women MLAs are from the Left Front. The outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also suffered a dramatic loss in Nandigram – the second time she has been defeated by BJP's Suvendu Adhikari

1/ The BJP is set to form the government for the first time in West Bengal’s history. Mamata Banerjee, three-time Chief Minister, has lost her Bhabhanipur constituency. In 2026, a record 385 women contested, yet only 38 won.

5/ The emergence of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam has disrupted the Dravidian duopoly – raising questions about the State’s political trajectory. Join us in the Feminist Election Newsroom as we collectively hold power to account – during elections and beyond. forms.gle/rFvoPGag5qhSHL…

4/ Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam fielded 23 women, of which 13 have been elected. From CPI(M), Latha T is the sole woman MLA. In the past, AIADMK has fielded a significant number of women candidates.

1/ Tamil Nadu, for the first time in decades, has a hung assembly with no party mustering up the required 118 seats for a simple majority. This year, 23 women have been elected to the 17th Tamil Nadu Assembly – highest in 20 years.