July 2015

Another law fails in implementation: Tribals fight for their rights under FRA

 
/ July 29, 2015

Sornaman Village, District Gariaband, Chattisgarh | Reena Ramteke The Forest Rights Act (FRA) along with the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Actis a cornerstone of Indian grassroots democracy. They give forest dwelling communities and individuals a final say with regards to land use. When it came into power in 2006,...

Forest Rights Act fails yet again in Odisha

 
/ July 29, 2015

Gurugungia block, Sundergarh district, Odisha | Purna Chandra Nayak 250 families from 3 villages of Gurugungia block of Sundergarh district in Odisha had applied for forest land in 2010. No land has been provided till date. Most families are daily wage workers and can only sustain themselves for only 2-3...

Missing Infrastructure: Pregnant women vaccinated, undergo check-ups in an open field

 
/ July 27, 2015

In Pundag village of Ranchi district, the absence of an Anganwadi Centre in the village means that pregnant women are forced to undergo check-ups and are vaccinated in an open field. “We aren’t comfortable undergoing check-ups in the open. We have to put up curtains to make ourselves comfortable or...

Two years, Two floods, No Compensation

 
/ July 22, 2015

Chakpihani village, Sant Kabir Nagar District, Uttar Pradesh | Madhuri Chauhan Flood after flood has washed away this community’s trust in local governance. This video report was made in 2013 by correspondent Madhuri, just after floods affected 20 districts in the state. Residents of Chakpihani never saw the compensation they...

Poor Implementation of Handicap Pension Scheme

 
/ July 21, 2015

Padugara Village, Dhanbad District, Jharkhand | Bharti Kumari Five years ago Rita, travelled to the Block Office, closest to her village in the hope of getting the paperwork ready for her disability pension. At the end of that visit, she was promised that the required documents would be couriered to...

Farmers fear losing their land to sports complex project

 
/ July 17, 2015

Buldhana, Maharashtra| Vinod Wankhede In Wadi budruk village, Buldhana district, Maharashtra farming land which belongs to communities belonging to backward classes is being acquired by the government for the development of a sports complex. Residents have written to the authorities opposing the project over and over again. However their appeals...

Drowned by development

 
/ July 16, 2015

Satyanarayan Banchhor| Buda Bahal Village, Bolangir District, Odisha The Lower Suktel Dam project will submerge Buda Bahal Village of Bolangir district. Residents of the village, who are entirely dependent upon agriculture and forest produce for their livelihoods have been opposing the project and asking for forest land pattas for the...

Fear of Homelessness Looms Large in a Mumbai Slum

 
/ July 15, 2015

15th July 2015 | Mumbai, Maharashtra | Amol Lalzare The residents of Sathe Nagar, a slum close to the Mumbai airport, do not know when the roof over their heads will disappear. Since 2006, surveys have been conducted in silence and demolitions underway as part of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority’s...