Nirmala Jyoti Ekka is an activist for women’s rights and a confidante for many marginalised populations in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state where she works for the urban dispossessed.  Nirmala Jyoti Ekka was a housewife taking care of her three children and husband, when she got involved with Video Volunteers in 2012. Today, five years later, Nirmala is an…

Nirmala Jyoti Ekka

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Imagine living in a house with its’ tile roof all caved in, hardly any shelter from the seasons or the wild animals outside. Come rains, the floors of your house get flooded in rainwaters till knees and your children run to you scared every night it rains. This is the reality that 10 Below the Poverty Line (BPL) households in Jharkhand’s Konki village, a village just 11 km from the state capital Ranchi. Ramzan Ansari and Mustari Khatun are two representatives from the families who narrate their efforts to get funds to repair their house under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMAY), a social welfare programme created to provide housing for the rural underprivileged in India.

In the video, Ramzan very matter-of-factly tells Nirmala Ekka, our Community Correspondent the apathy of government officials shown towards her family’s state. “We filled the form 2-3 years ago, but nothing moved forward. Nobody recognises the poor,” she says smiling a patient smile. The families earn their bread by doing household work and wage labour. The children, old enough to study struggle to find a place to study.

Why are these families being denied housing after fulfilling paperwork? Is it because they belong to a minority community? Or their being poor is a reason good enough to ignore their falling roof?

Nirmala is helping them by once again submiting their documents to the Block Development Officer (BDO) in Kanke block. You can make sure that these families get a house by calling the BDO on +91-8084861357.

This video was made by a Video Volunteers Community Correspondent Nirmala Ekka.

Community Correspondents come from marginalised communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories.
These stories are ’news by those who live it.’ They give the hyperlocal context to global human rights and development challenges. See more such videos at www.videovolunteers.org. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change.