Community Correspondents

Bikash Barman

As the ‘oldest son’ of his family, Bikash was forced to give up his dreams of joining the Indian Army when his father was rendered immobile after an accidental fall at a construction site. Bikash works odd jobs as a construction labourer and mason and dedicates his free time at Cooch Behar Anasrishti, a local youth organization working on conservation, biodiversity and skill building for local youth. He teaches at the local computer centre in an effort to make available skills he himself never really had access to as a child. Falling back on the years spent at National Cadet Corps, Bikash believes that with discipline and teamwork, combined with a healthy dose of humour, anything is possible. As a Community Correspondent, he seeks to document the rampant environmental destruction happening in his area, and to explore and understand the nuances of cross-border trafficking.

Videos from Bikash

This bridge of a small village of West Bengal is a disaster waiting to happen

 
/ April 5, 2016

Every day about 10,000 people risk their lives while crossing this small, broken down bridge in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal to go about their daily business. The bridge, which connects the small village of Banchukamari in Cooch Behar district, has been in a dilapidated state ever since two...

Bridge about to collapse

 
/ February 5, 2016

Over 5000 people from 4 villages have to use the rickety wooden bridge daily. To commute to any of the major areas, one has to cross this 30 year old bridge over the dried river Torsha. People have to carry their cattle across the river. The bridge has been broken...

Anganwadi centre without a building in Cooch Behar, West Bengal

 
/ December 21, 2015

Launched in 1975, the integrated child Development Services (ICDS) scheme is one of the world’s largest programmes for early child development. The primary objective of the scheme is to improve the nutritional and health status of children aged 0 to 6 years and pregnant and nursing women. In 2005, the...

A school without electricity in Cooch Behar

 
/ December 4, 2015

88 students belonging to Dalit and Muslim communities are forced to study in a school without electricity. The village in which the school is located has electricity but for 15 years there has been no electricity in the school. Please call the BDO of Cooch Behar on +91-3582270221 and demand...