October 2014
Kashmir’s Survivors Angry at Slow Response to Floods
A month and a half after Kashmir saw the worst floods in a century, rescue and rehabilitation have yet to reach a majority of the survivors. It was civil society that stepped up and started the initial rescue efforts; the army and government’s response to the crisis was less than...
Dilapidated school roof threatens safety of 100 students
The roof of the government school in Patti Block of Pratapgarh district leaks incessantly and is in the danger of falling down. VV-PACS Community Correspondent Chanda Bharti reports how this has endangered more than 100 students who study there. Government primary education centres go a long way in ensuring that...
Sanctioned but not served: Widows without pension
“He ruined his life by drinking, I tried to stop him but he didn’t listen,” says Foto Devi of her late husband. Like many other widows of Abholi village, VV-PACS Community Correspondent Anjana Yadav reveals the benefits of widow-pension scheme remain inaccessible to Foto Devi. CALL FOR ACTION: You...
A stream running dry: Locals denied compensation for land acquisition
326 families in rural Madhya Pradesh haven’t been compensated for their lands acquired by the government about three decades ago. The land was used for a dam project, which is not in a functioning state either. The project that was supposed to empower them, has robbed them of everything they...
Policy Pipe-dreams: Smart Card is just a piece of plastic in Jharkhand
“They told me that the smart card is not working,” says Bahamuni Hembrom, who had to pay more than INR 10000 to the nursing home where she delivered her child. “When we were coming back, they took the receipt back,” her husband told Community Correspondent Chunnu Hansda. CALL FOR ACTION:...
Houses of Dalit families burnt by upper caste men
12 powerful men from the ‘upper caste’ burnt down the houses of 4 Dalit families, our Community Correspondent Reena Devi reports from Maha Dalit Tola area of Chitauria Village in Katihar, Bihar. The conflict arose because the attackers had been trying to forcefully evict the residents. A meeting date...
Pestering the people’s republic
Adani Enterprise Ltd, which is Adani Group’s flagship company, was set to be the Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) for Machakatta and Chhendipada coal blocks in Angul District of Odisha. But the Supreme Court ruled in September 2014 that process related to land acquisition in the region are to be...