Archive

Toddy makers of Bihar wary of selling country-beer after alcohol ban

 
/ August 23, 2016

For thousands of people, mostly men, in rural Bihar, toddy is regarded as the poor man’s beer. Toddy, locally called Tadi, is considered as a natural juice,made from the sap of palm tree. It has been a favourite of villagers who throng toddy-makers in the evening to drink the mildly...

West Bengal: Water scarcity forces people to ration drinking water

 
/ July 5, 2016

Annapurna Kumari has been drinking a little water in the past few years, and whatever water she drinks is polluted and unhygienic. Just like her, the 200 other residents of Darikuri Dolashal village, West Bengal, are falling sick in the face of acute water scarcity. So severe is the problem,...

Appeal for a roof over their heads

 
/ July 1, 2016

Indira Awaas Yojana, (IAY) which came into effect in 1985 guaranteeing Housing for All for people living ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL). Despite the promised financial support and a solid roof over their heads, 15 Dalit families of Khalasi of Buxar district still reside in temporary slums and makeshift accommodations near...

Discrimination steals children off a normal school life

 
/ May 12, 2016

A school in Surendranagar, Gujrat has been serving mid-day meals to its students based on their caste. Panva Primary School, during mid-may meals, served as part of a school meal programme by the government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide, was openly discriminating against...

Governement turns blind eye towards the manual sacengers

 
/ May 11, 2016

Three young sanitation workers enter a sewer in Dhrangadhra town in Gujarat without any protective gear. This practice of manual cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling, human excreta from dry latrines, open drains or pits  and sewers without protective gear is criminalised by The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and...

A March across the Tea gardens for Justice

 
/ May 18, 2016

About 400 tea gardens workers from of Dooars and Terai regions of West Bengal joined a 10-day rally organised by the Progressive Tea Workers Union (PTWU) on January 5, earlier this year. The 390-km rally started in the village of Kumargram Sankosh and ended in the city of Siliguri of...

Since the Delhi rape in 2012, has anything changed for women in India?

 
/ May 17, 2016

  Almost four years since the country was shaken by protests after the brutal rape and murder of Jyoti Singh Pandey in 2012, what has changed for young women in India? According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there was a 9% increase in crimes against...

Benefits denied due to Absence Of Caste Certificate

 
/ April 7, 2016

Sewan Munda of Badanuangaon village in Sundargarh District of Odisha belongs to the Munda(Tribal) community. In 1962, during land settlement, the caste mentioned on his land document was recorded as Munda Christian and not Munda, because of which he is unable to get a valid caste certificate made. A Caste...