Community Correspondents

Kesha Devi

Kesha Devi primarily reports on issues related to caste, children, and women. Kesha Devi’s life changed when she was fourteen. Her family lost their land, faced a financial crisis, and Kesha was forced to marry to help support her family. Soon after her marriage, she experienced an incident in which she was refused the right to use the village water pump because of her caste. The combination of these events made her determined to combat caste-based discrimination. She has partnered with Yuvak Samiti to improve children and women’s rights. She joined India Unheard to represent the voices of the Dalit community and to improve their access to citizen rights and non-discriminatory, accountable government services.

Videos from Kesha

Impact Story

UP’s Village Went from No Toilets to 500 Toilets to Curb Open Defecation

 
/ August 5, 2019

With the help of a video and community meetings, Kharagpur village in Uttar Pradesh, women now have access to safe and clean toilet.

VV Impact: Women fight against discrimination, win work in NREGA after two years

 
/ May 1, 2016

Women of Keshavpur village, Uttar Pradesh had been denied work under NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) for two years because of the patriarchal views of the authorities of the region. Under NREGA, every member of rural India, who demands work has the right to get work. However, the employment...

MGNREGA – No guarantee for payment

 
/ March 16, 2015

16 March 2015 | Dashrathpur, Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh | Kesha Devi 75 people have not yet received payments for work done 4 months ago under MGNREGA. The local authority has disconnected himself from the matter stating that the money has not yet arrived from the government itself.

In Search of Water and Dignity

 
/ April 30, 2014

Can you imagine living in a situation where trying to get access to water for your daily chores translates into a lack of dignity? Where every single day someone humiliates you when you try to fill a bucket of water? For 150 people of the Musahar community this is a...

Where is Our Right to Shelter?

 
/ February 24, 2014

Community correspondent Kesha Devi reports of a Dalit family from her village, Mahuramshala in Uttar Pradesh, who have been living without a proper roof over their heads. Harilal Harijan with his family of nine, has been living in a bamboo hut for over three years now. He is a daily...