Shanti Baraik reports from Jharkhand’s Gumla district. Shanti feels that her district is quite backward compared to the other districts in the state. “Human trafficking is rampant in Gumla. There is a lack of employment opportunities here. In the neighbouring Simdega district, programs have been introduced, to train people in mushroom farming, for instance. But there is nothing of the…

Shanti Baraik

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In April 2015, I made a video on the issue of access to water in Kamdara block's Tati village which comes under Rampur panchayat. The hand pump had been broken for 6 months. All the sources of water accessible to the community were dirty or not working at all. I decided to tackle the issue and got the community together to file an application to the Block Development Officer.

The local women's group participated and wrote an application to the district drinking water & sanitation department. We took the application and the video to the authorities. 5 days after the video was screened and the application was submitted, engineers were sent down to fix the handpumps in the area.

'It is such a relief and it's convenient too! Fewer queues and more water! We go anytime to fetch water and now, it's easily available', rejoices a resident.

I want to thank the Block Development Officer and the JE from the drinking water & sanitation department on behalf of my community. They helped us in solving the issue successfully.

I am Shanti Baraik from Kamdara Block, Gumla District of Jharkhand reporting for IndiaUnheard.

*This video was made by a Video Volunteers Community Correspondent Shanti Baraik. 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.