Archive

What does it take to make the government work?

 
/ January 16, 2015

January 16; Darbhanga, Bihar Most often, to get the government machinery working, all that is required is a nudge in right direction. For many in India’s poorest communities factors like caste and class stand in the way of approaching officials and getting things done. It was therefore that nobody in...

Siolim Locals Infuriated By Teso Waterfront’s Blatant Legal Violations

 
/ March 21, 2015

The meandering Chapora River, the site of pink and purple sunsets and swaying coconut trees, has become a hotbed of arguments and grievances over the past few years. Local residents of Siolim Vaddy in Goa are infuriated by the multiple inconveniences being caused by Teso Waterfront, a river facing resort...

Abki Baar Company Sarkar? | Did we vote in a corporate government this time?

 
/ January 14, 2015

In Jharkhand, some 228 families have spent the last three years clinging to their land, defying the Indian government, the World Bank and an international coal conglomerate. But the government’s decision to do away with mandatory consent in the Land Acquisition Act may spell the end of their struggle.  ...

Natural water source is on the brink of extinction in Domat, Bihar

 
/ March 7, 2017

Agriculture communities across many villages depend on natural resources to support their farming. The sustenance of these resources is never the priority of the administration. Natural resources may soon be on the brink of extinction.Lachnauta Jumi is a water source situated near Domat village. This water is used for drinking,...

People of Kashmir speak on why they voted and why they didn’t

 
/ January 6, 2015

Video Volunteers has long recognised that there is a problem with the media coverage of Kashmir, and in response, we decided to bring our model of community video to Kashmir in September 2013, when we trained 11 Right to Information (RTI) activists as video reporters. The timing was fortuitous, because...

What do the Kashmir election results say about nationalism and separatism?

 
/ January 2, 2015

The Prime Minister said he “saw people’s faith in democracy” in the voter queues in Kashmir last month, and the Defence Minister claimed that Pakistan was “unnerved by the 72 per cent voter turnout” in the state. There was unusually high voter turn out in the recently concluded Kashmir state...

Forest Rights denied to Indigenous Forest Dwellers

 
/ March 6, 2017

 “We won’t leave the forest, even if it meant that you kill us.”This is what the people belonging to an indigenous tribal community in Bhadal village of Badwani told outsiders as they entered their forest with axes and spades to whittle Sal trees. The entire village of Bhadal came together...

Fighting the Impending Catastrophe of Land Pollution in Kashmir

 
/ December 26, 2014

The possibility of an epidemic looms large over Anantnag, the second biggest district in Kashmir after Srinagar. After the floods, which hit the region in September earlier this year, the problems of sanitation and hygiene have become manifest. Fumigation of the busy areas in the city, especially the bus stand...