Community Correspondents

Amit Kumar

Amit is a social activist and farmer from Obrail village in Gaya, Bihar.

It was his engagement with PACS (Poorest Areas Civil Society) that introduced him to Video Volunteers.  Amit works for rural, disenfranchised communities, and has covered issues of caste, education, land rights and water in his district, otherwise world-famous as a pilgrim and tourist destination.

“Since I had worked with the community before joining VV as well, I had instilled enough faith in them towards my work, and they knew me extremely well. The only doubt I had about my VV work was whether or not the community would be supportive of the new medium (videos). I was also using it for the first time, and no doubt, it was very challenging initially but I have been able to convince them well, and they now believe that videos are a great way to provide testimonies, even better than writing applications when trying to resolve issues. I screen my videos for them, and they watch with great interest since the medium presents the situations exactly the way it is, and does not get lost in between words. It asks for immediate attention.”

Dashrath Nagar, named after Dashrath Manjhi of The Mountain Man fame, found its spot on the national map when politicians and celebrities started visiting and building statues and memorials for Dashrath Manjhi. Such attention would make anyone wonder what leaps that village has made in the years after the film. Unfortunately, very little. Even the availability of basic amenities is still a far cry from the ideal. A water tank was installed in the village with multiple access points but the connection was soon discontinued due to multiple leakages in the pipeline. Amit decided to report this issue and made a video taking verdicts from the village residents. As soon the video was shown to the concerned Public Health Engineering Department,  the magnanimity of the mistake was soon realised but despite recognising the problem, no action was taken. Thanks to Amit’s determination, the people of Dashrath Nagar had running taps within a year.

It gives Amit great joy to see himself in his videos; his job as a Community Correspondent gives him immense satisfaction. He believes that his work being acknowledged by the panchayat and other local administrators has given him a new identity in the village. An extremely observant person, Amit is always looking out for people with stories, whether on the field, as a farmer, or a traveller; he is always willing to provide support in whatever manner possible.

“The thing about community media is, that it is not plastered and ornamented, it is simply honest information by the people. And my work is not just to showcase it but there is a goal attached to it, it is aimed at bringing change. Shooting an issue is not just a one-off thing, it’s important to follow-up and that’s how it becomes goal-oriented”, he says.

Videos from Amit

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An Anganwadi in Bihar, Draws a Sorry Picture Having No Water and Toilets

 
/ September 11, 2019

Anganwadi center in a village in Gaya, Bihar is being run from the neglected building, with no proper drinking water and toilets. 

No Cards

Bihar Child Trafficking: Victims Rescued at the Risk of Being Trafficked Again

 
/ July 31, 2019

Trafficking in Bihar is rampant despite the number of schemes and laws to curb the heinous crime.

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Gaya’s Village of Migrant Workers

 
/ October 16, 2018

Out of the 132 families in this Bihar village, at least hundred have seen their younger members migrate in search of work, but not necessarily a better life.

Manjhi 2.0- How a young man found an innovative solution to Dashrathnagar’s water woes

 
/ June 21, 2016

Dashrath Manjhi, a poor labourer from Gehlaur village of Gaya, Bihar shot to fame when a Bollywood movie ‘Manjhi – The Mountain Man’ captured his life and how he singlehandedly carved a path through a hill. Proud of their local hero, the Bihar government had even declared the movie tax-free...

Dalits denied the right to build house

 
/ August 29, 2016

A crime is committed against a  Dalit every 18 minutes, according to a 2010 report by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the prevention of atrocities against Scheduled Castes.                              This is probably the reason why 50 residents of Rajwara village in Bihar are forced to live in thatched huts even...

Compensation of Rs. 1.5 lakh received after two years & a video

 
/ October 5, 2016

Tragedy strck Sundar Shyam’s family when his 70-year old mother died in a freak accident as the fire broke out at his home. Since he and his wife were working in the fields of Gendupur, a village in the Gaya district of Bihar. The fire took away Sundar’s mother and...

Bihar Community Collects Money to Repair Its Own Well

 
/ September 20, 2016

In the year 2014, Sahuja Devi, a resident of Bihar would worry about the depleting water in the community well every morning. The government well, the only source of water in Kailashpur village had been lying in a dilapidated condition for two years and would soon crumble. “We requested the...

Pass books with no money under Indra Awas Scheme

 
/ February 4, 2016

Whenever it rains, we have to run and find alternate shelters that don’t leak from the roofs! This is the condition under which twelve people belonging to very poor Dalit families live in Muzaffarpur village. There are around 390 houses in this village. Out of these, the residents of 12...