Reportage
The village schoolmaster: Why Chhattisgarh’s Ashok Lodhi is called Cinema Babu by a village
With a television and a loudspeaker, Ashok Lodhi, a teacher at a primary school in Koriya district, has ensured his 270 students don’t miss out on education just because they have no smartphones.
Tameshwar Sinha
Reviving degraded farmlands in Karnataka’s Bandipur through agroforestry
The project started by Swayyam aims to cover 24.28 hectares in Yelachatti village with a mix of crops and trees by 2020-end. It also seeks to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
Deepanwita Gita Niyogi
Rural women must play a key role in COVID19 pandemic response and recovery policies
The pandemic response must avoid increasing the inequalities faced by rural women. Here are five ways to ensure gender-sensitive policies in the wake of COVID-19.
Celine Salcedo La Vina
Tribal communities dependent on forest produce seem to have fared better in the pandemic
The pandemic has taken away a majority of livelihoods, but some tribal communities were able to tide over the crisis as they could access the forests and forest produce.
Animesh Mishra
Grain Drain: Farmers in Uttar Pradesh sell paddy below government rate to repay loans
While the Centre continues to assure farmers that it will stand by the minimum support price of Rs 1,888 per quintal, farmers are being compelled to sell their paddy at Rs 1,200 a quintal or less.
Arvind Shukla
Troubled Waters: This hilsa season in Bangladesh has been good, but only for trawlers heading to the sea
River hilsa is said to be tastier than those caught from the sea. The livelihood of thousands of fishers in Bangladesh depends on the former. But, of the 500,000 tonnes of hilsa caught this year, 80 per cent has come from trawling in the sea. A large chunk of fisherfolk and traders are struggling for survival.
Rafiqul Islam Montu
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
Coastal Concern: Maharashtra villagers protest public hearings during COVID19
Local communities in coastal Palghar and Sindhudurg districts in Maharashtra had wanted the public hearings for coastal zone maps to be held after the COVID-19 pandemic ended. But, they have been completed.
Dhwani Shah
Less than 40% loan applications made by street vendors to the PM SVANidhi scheme sanctioned
Two million street vendors applied for loans under the PM SVANidhi scheme, but less than 40% of loan applications have been sanctioned. Of those sanctioned, loan disbursal to 32% only.
Animesh Mishra
COVID-19 And Sex Workers: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t
In the six months since COVID-19, sex workers have lost all work and have had no support from the government. But recently, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the state governments to provide monetary and ration support to sex workers without insisting on any identify proof.