Zaffar is a Muslim Afghan born in Bihar. His family fled Afghanistan after the Russians invasion in 1978. Zaffar currently lives in Kolkata, where he manages his own sports-based nonprofit. Through Rubgy, he helps kids bond across cultural and communal lines. Zaffar wants to continue to bridge these identity divides through community media.

Zaffar Khan

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In this episode, we see how Video Volunteers community correspondents helped villagers use the Bihar Public Grievance Redressal System to file complaints about basic civic issues in their village or community.

The Bihar PGRS law empowers the residents of Bihar to file complaints against 44 public departments of the government. However, lack of general awareness and negotiating through bureaucracy demotivates many who would want to file a complaint. Our Bihar correspondents Pankaj Barnwal and Zafar Equbal helped people from their communities use the PGRS law to solve issues like non-functioning of a local medical sub-centre, starting of old-age pension, fixing the sanitation system of a village to many more.

The Bihar PGRS law and its effective use shows how citizens can use the law themselves to fix their civic issues.