April 2016
The missing piece in rising farmer’s suicide in India
Hiralal Sahu ended his life in October in Odisha, joining several thousands of farmers across the country in a tragic and seemingly unending saga of despair and death. Sahu, a resident of a small village in Baragada district of Odisha consumed a large dose of pesticides because he was unable...
Family deprived of government’s welfare schemes
Geeta Devi, a widow from Uttar Pradesh (UP) village has been left to fend for herself and her family since her husband died last year. Governments, central and state, have both formulated various schemes to give financial assistance to help families that are Below Poverty Line (BPL). However, welfare schemes like...
A Kashmiri mother’s tale of sorrow
Shameena, a Kashmiri mother, spends her days crying silently, longingly gazing at the picture of her smiling son Zubair Ahmed because she will never see him again. Zubair, a child of no more than 14 was killed by the Special Task Force (STF) after a chase in Sopore, Baramullah during...
No morsel of food for tea-garden workers in Bengal
As we sip our morning tea in comforts of our home, tea workers in this tea estate of North Bengal are struggling to survive, eating dried leaves as their meal because their only source of income, the tea estates, owned by Duncans Industries Ltd have shut down since last year...
Drought-hit village in Maharashtra receives no Govt help
India is facing probably the worst water crisis that the country has seen in a decade. Water levels at 91 major reservoirs nationwide having no more than 29% water, according to the Central Water Commission (CWC). In such dire times, around 100-150 residents of a small village in Maharasthra’s...
Impact – Educated about their rights, women get hand-pump repaired in Bihar
Ignorance kept this village water-less for almost two months. The village hand-pump, which is a sole source of safe, hygienic drinking for many villages in India, was broken after wear and tear. However, the villagers did not know whom to approach in the government, in order to complain about the...
PDS corruption: Villagers had to pay bribe to get rice, which they did not
Employees of Panchayat Office promised rice and took bribes from rural families, Community Correspondent Dasarathi Behera reports from Deogarh district in Odisha. Ten indigenous tribal families are deprived of getting benefits from welfare schemes of the government in Bhatimunds hamlet. Few of them have been included in the Above Poverty...
Impact – Latrine crisis solved through proactive community solutions
80 families of Karatutha village in Odisha were suffering without toilets in their houses. That was until Community Correspondent, Anupama Sathy made a video about the same in 2015. Due to lack of toilets, these families had to defecate out in open. It was difficult for the women to go...