Shabnam, formerly a teacher, is our Community Correspondent from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Being denied a much-deserved scholarship for completing matriculation with first division just because she came from a Muslim family did not stop Shabnam from pursuing higher education. Now the first graduate in her family, Shabnam believes that she has fulfilled her father’s dreams. Threatened by her progressive educational background,…

Shabnam Begum

In the Chandrapura village of Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district, 250 Musahars were not able to get drinking water as the handpump in their neighbourhood wasn't working. If they tried to fetch water from other neighbourhoods, they would be chased away owing to their caste.

Video Volunteers Community Correspondent Shabnam Varanasi took cognisance of this and decided to help the community. She worked with the community and the local sarpanch to get their handpump fixed. The sarpanch, Kanshlal Saroj also helped deploy the material and labourers required to fix the handpump.

Musharas are one of the most margnisalised communities with little to no social rights. Musahars are mostly found in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.