Farewell To Alms: How 200 beggars in Lucknow have become self reliant by setting up micro-businesses
According to the 2011 Census, Uttar Pradesh has 65,835 beggars and a large number of them live in its capital city Lucknow. Their numbers have risen since then, but one man’s initiative is trying to rehabilitate them and provide them with dignity and a livelihood.
Neetu Singh
Give us work for wages, demand former manual scavengers in UP’s Jalaun
In Jalaun district, more than 500 women have given up manual scavenging, after receiving Rs 40,000 from the government to sustain them for six months. They are relieved to not go back to work that demeaned them, but maintain if they are not given other jobs, they would be forced to go back to their old lives.
Neetu Singh
The First Shot: Who should get the COVID19 vaccine first? Gaon Connection asked rural Indians in a survey
Over 43% of the rural respondents said the coronavirus vaccine should be administered first to the doctors and nurses. Thirty five per cent said frontline workers like ASHAs should be given first priority.
Neetu Singh
Six in every 10 rural Indians said awareness drives on COVID-19 conducted in their villages: Gaon Connection Survey
Were enough awareness campaigns and sensitisation programmes held in rural India to inform villagers about the COVID-19 pandemic? A recent survey by Gaon Connection tried to find out.
Neetu Singh
Untouched by Education: Casteism, untouchability and discrimination keep children of the manual scavenger community out of the classrooms
According to the 2011 census, there are 3.26 lakh Valmiki community households in Uttar Pradesh of which 2.19 lakh households are found in rural areas and the rest in urban areas. While there is no official statistics on the number of children getting an education, it is no secret that most of them drop out much before they reach middle school.
Neetu Singh
Affront to dignity: Dalit women still carry human excreta for wheat, roti and pickles in UP
A provision of Rs 12,300 crore has been made for ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ in the general budget of 2020-21. An average of Rs 10,000 crore is spent every year to construct toilets. But, manual scavenging is a scourge that continues to prevail in Jalaun district in UP.
Neetu Singh
A Culture of Protest: Is taking to the streets the only way of getting justice for rape victims?
On October 30 in Vaishali district, Bihar, a girl was allegedly raped and then set on fire. She died an agonising death, but after she identified her rapists. Was it the public outcry that spurred the police into arresting them?
Neetu Singh
A rape not just impacts the victim and her family, but has wider repercussions as it keeps the girl child away from school
In 2019, every day, 14 girls below 18 years of age were raped in India, records NCRB. Meanwhile, about 40% girls in the 15-18 years age group are not attending any educational institution. Is violence against women keeping girls away from schools?
Neetu Singh
Fields of fear: How safe are women farmers and agricultural labourers from gender violence?
More than 2/3rd of agricultural labourers are women, yet the field is a distinctly unsafe space for them, with 78% facing gender discrimination. Sexual exploitation often goes unreported, due to fear and threat of more violence.
Neetu Singh
Uttar Pradesh reports 11 rape cases daily. How sensitive is its police force towards survivors?
According to a recently released report that studied 14 cases of rape, it took 11 anywhere between two and 228 days to register an FIR, even when accompanied by a social worker.