Community Correspondents

Khurban Damor

Born on 1 December 1985, Khurban comes from a tribal community called Bhil, which is losing its inheritance wit time. His community is plagued with corruption and health issues primarily which he wishes to target, and bring a positive change in his community retaining the cultural heritage. Khurban is a labour contracter by profession and is pursuing Masters in Arts. He also takes guest lectures at the school. He earns a marginal income and supports his family of seven. He works with Adivasi Chetna Shishan Sewa Samiti, a non-governmental development organisation, located in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It has the distinction of being first organisation of tribals working for the upliftmemnt of their own people. He works for the development of tribals in the areas of health, education, rural development, water management, etc. The organization now endeavors to act globally for the poor and needy of all communities in its operational area. He works on the issues of child health, education, agriculture and localgovernance by advocating the people about their rights and raising their issues on proper forums from village level to national. In his area most of the farmers own small land holdings. Decreasing margins in agriculture sector is forcing many farmers to join wage labour. After raising rain crop, many people migrate to other States between October and June. Large scale seasonal migration is affecting education of children and because of this the district is educationally very backward. Migration of tribals is not for any benefit, but a tool of poor for saving himself. Another issue in his community is of dowry, where instead of more known practice of the bride’s family giving collateral to the groom’s family, the groom gives collateral in order to marry his preffered choice. This practice mostly leaves the groom and his family with heavy amount of loan to repay as the amount generally ranges in Lakhs of Rupees, concluding in overall economic degradation of the family. Khurban loves playing cricket and still takes out time to involve his senses to the pleasure. He is an avid dancer and takes part in the tribal festivals of his region to support and conserve the cultural heritage of his tribe. He wishes to work on the practice of dowry in his community, so that people may live a debt free life and involve in the process of marriage with total sanctity. With the help of camera he intends to bring the issues he deals with to national forefront, bringing change faster and on a widespread scale.

Videos from Khurban

Damned by Sardar Sarovar Dam

 
/ June 13, 2014

Imagine having your village and land flooded for the construction of a dam.  Imagine no compensation, house or land being provided in return.  Imagine standing up for your rights to only be imprisoned by the authorities.  There is no need to imagine for this is the reality of residents from...

8 years without Electricity

 
/ June 5, 2014

Can you imagine not having any electricity for the past 8 years?  For 135 families this is the reality they live with day in and day out.  Electrical poles were installed in Talawali village 8 years ago but until now electrical wires have still not been installed.  Instead residents are...