From a domestic worker to Padma Shri awardee — here’s how Bihar’s Dulari Devi painted success
Bihar’s Dulaari Devi has been awarded with Padma Shri for her contributions to the Mithila folk art. But the intricate patterns drawn by her on the canvas seldom reveal the complicated struggles she grew up coping with. Here’s a peek at the life journey of the acclaimed artist.
Umesh Kumar Ray
“I travelled from Delhi to Patna, standing for 21 hours. I have another 12 hours to travel”
As the fear of the lockdown lurks, migrant labourers are scrambling home to Bihar. They claim the relief schemes announced a year ago did not help them much in the last lockdown, and have little hope they will this year either.
Umesh Kumar Ray
Their wheat crop is ready, but with no govt procurement in sight, Bihar farmers are at the mercy of middlemen
The Bihar government is yet to start procurement of wheat. Unable to wait, the farmers are compelled to sell to middlemen and traders who pay them Rs 1,550 a quintal instead of the government procurement rate of Rs 1,975. The traders make a profit by selling the wheat in other states.
Umesh Kumar Ray
‘We’re ready to die but won’t let an embankment be built on the Bagmati’
Only a short stretch of the Bagmati river in Bihar flows free. Farmers in Muzaffarpur are up in arms against the state government’s proposal to embank that portion too. They fear this will lead to worse floods and increase sand deposits on their farmlands.
Umesh Kumar Ray
Kabar Taal, Bihar’s first Ramsar site: Will this new tag help boost livelihoods of fishers?
Nearly 15,000 families in 17 villages around the 6,311-hectare Kabar taal in Begusarai depend on the wetland for fishing. The taal often goes dry, forcing fishers to migrate in search of work. The Ramsar tag is expected to rejuvenate the waterbody and benefit the local fishing communities.
Umesh Kumar Ray
Muddy waters: Villagers fear the Ganga Water Lift Scheme in Mokama, Bihar may adversely impact farming
Mokama Tal, known for cultivation of pulses, supports about 200,000 farmers and half a million agricultural labourers. Excessive flooding and silting has rendered 10,000 hectares uncultivable, and the new project may only increase their misery.
Umesh Kumar Ray
Rice racket: From the paddy fields of Bihar to the mandis of Punjab
Bihar grows about 8 million tonnes of paddy annually but barely procures about 20 per cent. Agents buy paddy from small farmers at a low price and send it off to mandis in Punjab to sell at a higher MSP. A Gaon Connection report.
Umesh Kumar Ray
Child trafficking surges in Bihar as parents have no work nor wages in the COVID-19 pandemic
Between July and September 2020, about 250 kids from Bihar have been rescued from child trafficking. Many were put to work for 15 hours daily in the bangle-making factories in Rajasthan for Rs 2,500/month.
Umesh Kumar Ray
Kaimur Tiger Reserve: With Bihar elections around the corner, the state government has a tiger by the tail
The proposed tiger reserve in Kaimur, Bihar, is expected to displace about 50,000 tribal people in 108 villages, and has sparked violent protests. The state forest department dismisses such fears.
Umesh Kumar Ray
COVID-19 in Bihar: Exhausted, underpaid health workers and a crumbling public health system
With a surge in COVID-19 cases, low testing rates, exhausted, angry, underpaid and uncertain health workers in the state, Bihar is staring at a complete collapse of its public health system.