To,
The Hon’ble Chief Minister,
Govt. of Telangana,
Praja Bhavan,
Hyderabad
Sub: Urgent Appeal to Release High Level Committee Report on Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in Telugu Film and Television Industries immediately and implement its Recommendations – Reg
Sir,
We the undersigned members of the All-India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA), are writing to you from across the country, with an urgent and earnest appeal and demand to immediately release the Report of High-Level Committee (HLC) on Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Film and Television Industries, submitted to the Telangana Government way back in 2022. We also call for a time-bound implementation of its recommendations, especially to ensure justice and safe, dignified working space in the entertainment industry, to lakhs of women, trans people and persons from working class backgrounds.
We are of the considered view that in the light of the much-publicized Hema Committee Report, that was released on 19th August, 2024 through an order of the High Court of Kerala, the Telangana Government should follow suit and not only release the HLC Report, but should also act affirmatively on the recommendations by the Committee.
To refresh your memory, in 2018, the protest by actress Sri Reddy in front of the Movie Artists Association raised issues of prejudice and discrimination in the Telugu film industry. Subsequently, many dialogue artists narrated their experiences which revealed the pervasiveness of sexual exploitation as well as unethical working conditions. Women’s rights activists and organizations in Telangana have been constructively engaging on the issue since then. Responding to the Public Interest Litigation that the women’s rights activists filed in the High Court in October 2018, the Telangana government set up a High-Level Committee in April 2019.
The Sub Committee appointed by this HLC which was active from 2019 to 2022, sought to understand the ecosystem that enabled discrimination, harassment and exploitation in the industry. It met many craft councils of the film industry and relevant associations of the television industry, including broadcast and entertainment. It gathered information about the functioning of the industry, contracts, associations, wage payments. basic amenities and the chain of accountability. It also met the Producers Council and the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce to receive their suggestions about how to stop the ongoing exploitation and institute urgent corrective measures. They also met many broadcast journalists from the Television industry who had several useful suggestions. The report with recommendations was submitted to the then Chief Secretary, Mr. Somesh Kumar in June 2022 in the presence of almost all members of the High-Level Committee.
Even after all this work, the discrimination, the deplorable working conditions, the mental and sexual harassment in the film and television industries in Telangana remains unaddressed without the implementation of this Report and lack of accountability at numerous levels. Women at different levels in the industry – junior artists, dialogue writers, make-up artists, hairdressers, assistant directors, dialogue artists, models, cinematographers, song writers, dubbing artists as well as journalists in the broadcast industry, anchors, actresses, producers and writers in the television industry are working without any safeguards or redressal for the wrongs done to them. The number of such women survivors runs into thousands.
The release of the Hema Committee report by the Kerala government has given courage and assurance to the women in the Malayalam film industry to come forward with the abuse they have faced. We believe the release of the HLC report in Telangana and the state government’s commitment to implement the recommendations would also give the necessary courage to women, trans, queer people who have been suffering in silence in the Telugu film and television industries.
In the light of the above, we urge you to immediately:
- Release the Report submitted by High Level Committee on Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Telugu Film and Television Industries immediately.
- Implement all the recommendations that are suggested to contain sexual harassment, gendered exploitation, improving gender parity and the working conditions in the film and television industries.
Looking forward to a prompt response and action on this letter.
Thanking you,
- Sagari Ramdas – Food Sovereignty Alliance, Telangana
- Shruti Naik, Social Activist, Rythu Swarajya Vedika, Telangana
- Arundhati Ghosh, Cultural Practitioner, Bengaluru,
- Meena Saraswathi Seshu, National Network of Sex Workers, Maharashtra
- Simin Akhter, Common Teachers Forum /ALIFA. New Delhi
- Arundhati Dhuru, NAPM Lucknow, UP
- Prakriti, Activist, ALIFA Delhi
- Sabika, Poet, Uttar Pradesh
- Rahee, ALIYSA, ALIFA, NAPM, Maharashtra and Delhi
- Abha Bhaiya, One Billion Rising Campaign, Himachal Pradesh
- Mallu Kumbar, Karnataka Sexual Minorities Forum
- Puja, ALIFA Delhi
- Vanaja, Fisher women’s Federation and ALIFA Tamilnadu
- Malika Virdi, Maati / Uttarakhand Mahila Manch
- Padmaja Shaw, Rtd Professor, Journalism, Telangana
- Smita Gupta, Economist, New Delhi
- Sharanya, political activist, Indigenous Peoples’ Land, Life and Knowledge Collective (IPLLK), Koraput, Odisha
- Kalpana Karunakaran, Teacher and Researcher, Chennai, TN
- Nancy Pathak, Centre for Financial Accountability, New Delhi
- Varsha, Research Scholar, Telangana
- Harpuneet Kaur, PFUS, Panjab University, Chandigarh
- Indira Rani, Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch & ALIFA, Hyderabad
- Kavita Srivastava, National President, PUCL, Jaipur & Delhi
- Anjali Lal, Independent Consultant, Bengaluru
- Hechin Haokip, Centre for Women and Girls, Manipur
- Adv Dr Shalu Nigam, Delhi NCR
- Meera Sanghamitra (NAPM – ALIFA), Hyderabad
- Adv Vertika Mani, PUCL Delhi
- Ammu Abraham, Forum Against Oppression of Women, Mumbai
- Laxmi Murthy, Journalist, Bengaluru
- P. Rohini Rajasekaran, Bengaluru
- Shiva, PhD Student, ALIFA Delhi
- Dr. Sanju, Academic and ALIFA, Rajasthan
- Soma Marik, Social Activist, Kolkata
- Radhika Desai, Independent Researcher. Goa
- Shilpa Parthan, PhD student, Chicago
- Jayasree Subramanian, Academician, Andhra Pradesh
- Rukmini Rao, Feminist, Gramya Resource Centre for Women, Nalgonda, Telangana
- Chayanika Shah, Hasrat-e-Zindagi Mamuli, Mumbai
- Sumathi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Geeta Charusivam, Social Activist, Chennai.
- Suchetana Ghosh, Academic, Kolkata.
- S. Seethalakshmi, Independent Researcher, Hyderabad
- Madhu Bhushan, Feminist Activist, Karnataka
- Deepthi Sirla, ALIFA, Telangana
- Jashodhara, Independent Researcher, Nainital, Uttarakhand
- Ajitha George, Social Activist, Jharkhand
- Anuradha, Saheli and ALIFA, Jabalpur
- Priyadharshini, Delhi Forum, New Delhi
- J Devika, Feminist Scholar, Kerala
- Devanshi, Independent Journalist and Researcher, Pune
- Apeksha, Artist and Researcher, Mumbai
- Faiza Khan, Independent Filmmaker, Delhi
