Anti Poverty Programs
With an expanding IT sector and an annual economic growth rate of seven percent, India’s growth seems unstoppable. In an effort to keep pace with the economy, the Indian government, in hand with international agencies and private contractors, is undertaking a formidable set of domestic development programs. These programs are aimed at building the networks and facilities that must be in place if the country is to continue to grow. Without these crucial development projects, India’s fast-paced progress could be derailed. However, these projects come with significant and sometimes irrevocable consequences. Many are displaced with little to no compensation. The government’s methods are often highly questionable and many are disenfranchised as a result of Delhi’s national ambitions. In this section, India Unheard community correspondents look into India’s development schemes and programs.
Goa hotelier turning food waste into energy
Food wastage is an alarming issue in India. The onus of the food waste collectively lies on the millions of households, canteens, hotels, social and family functions, weddings, etc which throw away hundreds of kgs of food away, every day. For the past six months, Jack has installed a 4-kg...
Two bamboo sticks make a bridge in village of West Bengal
Over 100 people, old and young, cross a canal over a temporary bridge of two bamboos every day in West Bengal, as their bridge is broken into half since seven months. Mothers with babies, children with heavy schoolbags and men with cycles travel undertake the dangerous bamboo-walking during the dry...
Lights Out! Jharkhand village has no electricity since past three years
As the sun sets on the horizon, darkness literally falls in the lives of families residing in a small hamlet of Dumburu of Bangaon block in Jharkhand. The village had a brief experience of electrified homes in early 2013. But it was pushed back into darkness again within six months...
Primary school sans boundary walls put students in danger
While play breaks are looked forward in a primary school, the play breaks in the school compound of Bhishwa municipal primary school, Uttar Pradesh can be a ground for a tragedy. The school, which has more than 50 students has no boundary walls and faces a busy road which witnesses...
Women bring water home after six months
In spite of water connections in the area, women of Shramiknagar, an area in Nashik, would wake up every day at 5 am to fetch water from a nearby tank for six months. Reason being that the officials would refuse to supply water to their area, which is home to...
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...
Farmers await compensation for damage by wild animals
As rapid urbanization cuts into India’s forests, animals and humans have come into increasing conflict. Apart from in the wild, the human-wildlife conflict is most concentrated and impactful within agricultural regions bordering the wildness. The villages of Saraipali and Gourmudi, which border the vast forests of Chhattisgarh have recently been...