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‘Leprosy is still a stigma in India’

Thursday, June 26, 2014
|
Grassroots - Law
|
By: 
GOI Monitor Desk
Gandhiji giving massage,to a leper patient, the Sanskrit scholar Parchure Shastri, at Sevagram Ashram in 1940. Source: Wikimedia Commons

How can access to education and good healthcare change somebody's life is evident from Suresh Dhongde's success. At one point of time he was staring at possibility of a life wasted. Today, the 35-year-old is a proud recipient of the national award for being a role model in overcoming leprosy. Not only is he helping other leprosy-affected people join mainstream, but also trying to break well-entrenched stereotypes related to the disease. He is fighting against several laws and rules which discriminate against leprosy patients.

 

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'Tawaifs were highly educated women erased from social scene by new morality'

Friday, October 30, 2015
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Grassroots
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By: 
GOI Monitor Desk
Rasoolan Bai was a courtesan famous for her thumri.

Courtesans contributed to music and literary scene of an era when most women were in purdah. 'The Other Song' is a film that examines how we stigmatised these performers resulting in annihilation of their profession which could not meet the new moral standards of independent India.  Their whole existence was termed immoral both by the British colonialists and also ironically by the nationalists who themselves were English educated and probably inspired by Colonial ideas.We talk to the film maker Saba Dewan on what she went through while projecting such a difficult subject on screen 

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'We have got hope installed'

Monday, March 12, 2012
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Grassroots
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By: 
GOI Monitor Desk

For a city full of shopping malls, big glass offices and stylish cars, Bengaluru easily represents India's best place for the upwardly mobile. No wonder the divide between haves and have nots also plays out more intensely here with the additional emphasis on

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A Generation in Peril. How Climate Crisis is Impacting Childhood

Monday, January 11, 2021
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Environment - Governance - Grassroots
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By: 
Satyaki Baidya

The impact of climate crisis on people across the world is highly disproportionate but no other group is as vulnerable as children in low income families of developing countries. Children are not emotionally and physically capable of understanding the dangers during extreme weather events and are dependent on adults for their survival. They are more susceptible to water and vector borne diseases, malnutrition and they are forced into labour due to economic challenges induced by climate crisis. 

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A school that doesn't teach

Thursday, November 21, 2013
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Grassroots
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By: 
India Water Portal
There's no imparting of education. Girls learn what they practice. Source: Surendra Bansal

Constant giggles, playful pulling of plaits and teasing is common in girls' schools. Though the Baba Aya Singh Riarki College in Gurdaspur is different in many ways, it is filled with similar scenes. This school is an exceptional experiment in education for rural girls of Gurdaspur and Amritsar. It dates back to 1934 when a social worker called Baba Aya Singh established a small ‘putri pathshala’ (girls’ school). He also set up the SKD High School in 1939. Since then it has pioneered women education and empowerment in the state.

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Barter by the beel

Saturday, March 29, 2014
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Grassroots
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By: 
Usha Dewani
Eatables laid out for exchange at Jon beel mela

This was my first time here. I had heard of this festival, perhaps the only existing one in India, where barter takes place at such a scale. Jon Beel mela in Jon Beel, Jagiroad Assam- a historic festival where people from the hills and plains come together for a unique exchange of goods and agricultural produce near a moon-shaped wetland. A place of extremes, of new and old, rustic and modern. The annual three-day festival has been celebrated since the 15th century at the end of Magh Bihu.First held under the aegis of the King of the erstwhile Gova kingdom, 

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Camel milk inspires hope for herders

Saturday, November 7, 2020
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Grassroots
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By: 
Manu Moudgil
Fresh camel milk in Kutch region of Gujarat. Photo from Sahjeevan.

India’s camel population has declined by 37 percent over the last seven years because it’s no longer needed for transport or farming. Camel milk, found to be a healthier option for people with diabetes and those with food allergies, can be the source of sustenance for camel rearers. Several small dairies and Amul are selling camel milk and its products to city clientele, but low awareness, lack of bulk milk coolers and shrinking pastures for grazing are the limitations that need to be addressed for this dairy segment to flourish

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Covid 19: Pastoralism under shadows of fear

Wednesday, September 23, 2020
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Grassroots
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By: 
GOI Monitor Desk
Herders faced hardships during lockdown. Pic: Anu Verma and Biren Nayak

Nomadic herders, whose livelihood depends on livestock, travel in search of pasture land. There are communities whose journeys start every year and pass through traditional routes through different regions. They stop at fixed places where people accept them and allow their herds to camp on their farms in exchange of manure. The lockdown disturbed everything. They had to divert routes and spend more time and energy working out where they could move

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Dalits embracing Buddhism need to go beyond politics 

Sunday, July 16, 2017
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Grassroots
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By: 
Manu Moudgil
A Buddhist shrine with Ambedkar's portrait. Source: Akuppa John Wigwam/Flickr

The Dalits in modern India use initiation into Buddhism as a symbolic protest. Recently, around 180 families immersed the idols of Hindu deities and took to Buddhism after a violent clash with members of upper caste in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Last year, over 300 Dalits took deeksha in Gujarat after seven Dalits were flogged for skinning a dead cow. But does this action achieves its goal of social equality?

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Deceived: The water carriers of Kangra

Wednesday, December 24, 2014
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Environment - Grassroots
|
By: 
Manu Moudgil
The distance between community and its resource leads to disaster in the long run.

Man has always been on quest of building new things. Even when there were no big machines and qualified engineers, the world had expert builders who shaped the earth into various forms to meet needs of the society. Kuhls of Himachal Pradesh are one such example of engineering brilliance. Kuhl is name given to a channel which carries glacial melt through gravity from nearby streams to the fields thus making irrigation possible even on steep hills. Kangra valley has the most extensive network of kuhls dating as far back as 17th century.

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Drinking from the stream of traditional knowledge

Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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Environment - Grassroots
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By: 
Manu Moudgil
Several beris like these provide sweet water to villagers of Jaisalmer district. Source: GOI Monitor

Ghaziram's family has been living at Ekalpaar village of Jaisalmer district for ages but managed to build a pucca house only recently. Besides rearing livestock, he owns 50 bigha of agricultural land which earned him Rs 2 lakh last year.

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Echoes of Narmada

Monday, December 2, 2013
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Grassroots
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By: 
Medha Uniyal
Fishworkers and boatmen assert their right to water and fisheries in Sardar Sarovar. Source: NBA

I walked down the weather-beaten road of Jhanda Chowk in the direction that, I was told, would lead me to the office of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in Khandwa town of Madhya Pradesh. Trudging along under the 47 degree sun, I couldn’t help but muse over the glorious images of intrepid activism, sweeping support and pandemic influence that the name NBA invokes. Undeniably, I entered the office expecting to walk into a maelstrom of hustle bustle, the least you’d expect at the epicenter of a movement that shook the nation. 

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Farmers unite to rescue their land from Lantana

Thursday, January 25, 2018
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Grassroots
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By: 
Manu Moudgil
Women harvesting a small millet from the farm which was earlier infested with Lantana

Lantana was introduced as an ornamental plant to India in 1800s but has since infested the forests, grazing grounds and farms taking over 13 million hectare, which is around 4 per cent of the total land area of the country. Removal of Lantana is problematic as the traditional methods of cutting, burning or haphazard uprooting leads to recurrence. Collective action and good science, however, can do wonders as shown by villagers in Madhya Pradesh and in Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

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Forests have got enough food for us

Thursday, November 6, 2014
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Grassroots
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By: 
GOI Monitor Desk
Villagers packing Sitaphal (sweet apple) in Udaipur district, Rajasthan.

Forests have been serving as food basket of several communities across India. Tribals have been traditionally sourcing their diet from forests. The cultivated lands, on the other hand, face starvation deaths in times of drought or flood as there’s no natural resource to fall back upon. But we rarely recognise forest as an able ally in the fight against hunger and food insecurity. In fact, the mainstream media looks at consumption of uncultivated foods mostly as a sign of backwardness and poverty. Year after year, stories of deaths of tribals after consuming mango kernel soup are reported.

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From field to CFL , how biomass energy is lighting up India

Thursday, December 18, 2014
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Environment - Grassroots
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By: 
Shanmuga Priya T
Biomass resource can overcome energy deficit. Source: Ramjar/WikimediaCommons

Around a thousand families of Thalangi tribal hamlet in Coimbatore district received free television sets from the Tamil Nadu government in 2006. But these were of no use as the houses had no electricity supply. Kerosene was the main source of lighting. Today, it is interesting to see how the hamlet has met all its energy needs and also attained complete sanitation through a biodigester. Though biodigesters have conventionally been used to generate biogas for cooking fuel, examples are cropping up across India to use the same gas for electricity generation, especially in far flung areas.

  • Read more about From field to CFL , how biomass energy is lighting up India

From herd to house

Sunday, May 12, 2013
|
Grassroots
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By: 
GOI Monitor Desk
Cattle herds are increasingly vanishing from Nokha. Source: GOI Monitor

Nokha town in Bikaner district of Rajasthan has an air of urgency. Large number of jeeps vying for road space with big trucks and lorries while trains, both long distance and local, hurtle past the barrier at regular interval. From the largest agriculture-based market established by erstwhile king of Bikaner, Maharaja Gangasingh, Nokha has transformed itself to a place known for a fledgling cement industry and small scale units manufacturing blankets and electrical items among other products.

What has also changed with this transformation is the decline in dairy sector of the town....

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Fruits of conservation

Saturday, October 13, 2012
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Grassroots
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By: 
Manu Moudgil
Sitaphal (Sugar apple) is one of several forest products which people can sell to market

Though joint forest management (JFM) has been in work through most forest areas of Rajasthan, the cooperation between forest department and the village forest protection and management committees (VFPMCs) in this area has turned into financially viable alliance

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Grass is always greener on the women’s side

Tuesday, April 29, 2014
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Grassroots
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By: 
Ravleen Kaur
Women take turns to protect pastures from illegal tree felling.

When Kesi Bai became the Sarpanch of Chitamba panchayat in Bhilwara district, fortunately the going was not as tough as it is presumed to be for women in Rajasthan. She had support of her people, even if not total, and she made an efficient use of it. The first decision that Kesi Bai took was to revive the pasture land of her village Sanjadi Ka Badiya to ensure that everybody gets enough fodder and fuelwood from local sources. Reviving the pasture that had been degraded over years because of wood cutting and drought involved discussion and meetings 

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Harvest of Hope: Women reap rich dividends through group farming

Monday, November 23, 2020
|
Agriculture - Grassroots
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By: 
Anamika Yadav
Two women transplanting rice. Image: PX Fuel

The states of Kerala and Telangana have created cooperatives of women farmers which has not only reaped financial benefits but also ensured better social status for the members. The women got familiar with farm practices, government institutes and private agencies, market negotiations and fund management, all of which helped them overcome gender, caste and class barriers

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How distressed rural migrants shelter in cities

Thursday, November 16, 2017
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Grassroots
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By: 
Manipadma Jena
In a roadside ghetto, Akila Bibi and others after a day’s hard work, separating white paper shreds from the colored ones for recycling. Earning Rs 3 a kg, they manage 30 kg to 50 kg a day. (Photo by Manipadma Jena)

Flood and drought often drive the rural poor to cities. Those who are landless often stay on. Risking lives under the open sky, they hope a city’s many work opportunities will help them survive somehow. At least 1% of every Indian city and town population is homeless. India’s urban population is 377 million, which means 218,750 shelters are needed across the country.

  • Read more about How distressed rural migrants shelter in cities

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