Arti is our CC from Damoh in Madhya Pradesh. Poor socio-economic conditions forced her to work as a manual scavenger at a very young age. Her years of experience have given her a strong understanding of social exclusion issues. She feels strongly about discrimination faced by women in her community and wants to start her journey as a video campaigner…

Arti Bai Valmiki

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Batiyagarh, Damoh, Madhya Pradesh | Arti Bai Valmik

201 kids starved every day in this school because no mid-day meals were being distributed. Correspondent Arti Bai took immediate action to ensure the meals were resumed for the children in Bakayan. The children and their parents are happy now. This is their story.

Mid-day meal distribution should have started from 15th June in the primary and secondary school in Bakayan village, yet 201 kids had only received two meals until 20th July. Neither were the kid's getting regular mid-day meals as per the Right to Education Act nor were they getting food according to the government approved menu.

On 20th July, with help from Arti Bai, the kids made a call to the Chief Executive Officer of Batiyagarh and asked her why were they not receiving their Mid-day meals as promised by the government. The cooks also testified and expressed their concern. When an inspection was carried by the District authorities, they found out that MDM was not being distributed in the school and the group responsible for organizing MDM was removed from their responsibility. Arti Bai had a long discussion with the CEO and the decision to resume MDM the very next day was taken. MDM is now being distributed by the School Management Committee since the 21st. As of now, the Sarpanch [ village head ] is looking after the management of MDM. Students are now going back to school happily.

- How was this change brought about?
- This change was possible because of your help. You came out of your way to help us. You sought the help of these afflicted kids and together called the officials.

The person who made this change possible is Ms. Ranu Jain, the Chief Executive Officer of Batiyagarh. Please call and thank her for quick action to ensure children do not suffer any further.

Aarti Bai Valmik reports from Damoh, Madhya Pradesh for IndiaUnheard.

Watch the issue report here: 

This video was made by a Video Volunteers Community Correspondent. Community Correspondents come from marginalized communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories. These stories are ’news by those who live it.’ They give the hyperlocal context to global human rights and development challenges. See more such videos at www.videovolunteers.org. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change.