EMPTY PLATES, SILENT DEATHS | Jharkhand's Everlasting Hunger Crisis

Bhukhal Ghasi, a 50-year-old laborer from Bokaro district in Jharkhand, had a family of seven to support. Amidst existing poverty and food scarcity, he struggled to find work. The situation worsened when he died of hunger in March 2020. Tragically, Bhukhal’s family faced another loss just a few months later. Jharkhand is the lowest-performing state in India’s ‘Zero Hunger Goal’ of SDGs, accounting for 33 of the 99 starvation deaths between 2015 and 2020. The state’s negligence left Bhukhal waiting for months to receive a ration card.

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Maharashtra, Jyoti Jangra, Governace, Short-Docs Vishal Arora Maharashtra, Jyoti Jangra, Governace, Short-Docs Vishal Arora

MIRAGE OF DREAMS| Mumbai’s Rich-Poor Divide

Nearly half of Mumbai's population resides in slums mirroring the spatial and economic fragmentation seen across Maharashtra. This economic inequality disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable. Jahana, who arrived in Mumbai at the age of 14 with her father in pursuit of a brighter future, has seen little improvement in her circumstances. Amidst the struggle to survive within Mumbai's stark rich-poor divide, she encountered tragic events when her children fell ill due to the poor living conditions in the slum. Jahana fears whether she will be able to secure a better and healthier future for her children.

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BREATHLESS IN DELHI | The Human Cost of Air Pollution

If you are living in Delhi, you might lose 12 years of your life because of air pollution. Jyoti Lavakare Pande, an author and a journalist from Delhi, writes an open letter to highlight the intensity of pollution in Delhi. She reflects on her mother's vibrant and resilient life, filled with smiles and melodies. Her mother, Kamale Pande, a classical vocalist, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, struggling for every breath in Delhi's pollution. She pens down her mother’s journey to raise awareness about the invisible killer looming in Delhi’s air.

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A GREY WORLD

Kaolin, or China clay, is a mineral harmful to both humans and the environment. Located in Kharia Village in West Bengal state?s Birbhum District, is a Kaolin mine and processing unit owned by Patel Nagar Minerals Pvt. Ltd. Founded in 1955, it?s one of India's longest-standing China clay processing units. The unregulated pollution from this unit poses a significant health risk to locals, damaging soil, groundwater and agriculture, and severely affecting the region's ecosystem. This story, by Kolkata-based filmmaker Subhrajit Sen, explores the mining?s impact on workers and villagers. It was produced with support from Internews? Earth Journalism Network Asia Pacific Grant 2022.

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LIFELESS BIRTHS |High Infant Mortality among Tribals in Madhya Pradesh

Young women Laila and Rajanti, like many other women from Madhya Pradesh state's Sahariya tribe, were able to conceive. However, what happened after the birth of their children was not in their hands. The Sahariyas are one of the 75 "particularly vulnerable" tribes of India.

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FORGOTTEN IN THE LANDSLIDE

Jhabe Ram bursts into tears as he narrates how a landslide swept away his family's house in Himachal Pradesh state, killing eight members of their joint family, including his wife and two children as well as his brother and his entire family. This northern state in the Himalayas is no stranger to natural calamities. 

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CRUSHED ASPIRATIONS | Academic Chaos In Bihar

Adarsh Kumar, a self-motivated, bright student from Bihar, aspires to pull his family out of poverty. However, he has little more than his resolve to take him closer to his dream, by serving in the Indian Army. To pass every stage of recruitment, and there are many, can his determination compensate for…

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PUNJAB’S ‘CANCEROUS’ GROWTH

Harsimranjit Singh spent much of his youth looking after his father, who had cancer. Fazilka, where he lives, is one of the 11 districts that comprise Punjab state's "cancer belt," the Malwa region. In the nearby Ferozepur district, Kuldeep Singh had to quit farming as his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

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DELHI BOUND

Munna Singh, 19, a second-generation migrant worker, is a full-time supplier of water bottles and a part-time dog walker in the slums of Govindpuri, Delhi. As he is working hard to make ends meet for his family, his life resembles that of millions of interstate migrant workers in India’s capital. Here’s a day in his life.

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DIGGING FOR HOPE | A Farmer’s Suffering Due to Water Shortage

Sudhir Yadav is a farmer who lives in one of the 78 sub-districts of Haryana state where the groundwater is depleting faster than it can replenish. Yet, like other farmers, he had no option but to keep digging deeper and deeper into the ground in search of water for irrigation until he learned the hard way.

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WOMEN SUFFER THE MOST | Rajasthan State’s Water Crisis

Few kilometres from the India-Pakistan border, people in Barmer district of the western state of Rajasthan face extreme water shortage. In scorching heat, women in this desert area spend several hours fetching water from the nearest wells. On an average, they walk about 2.5 kms to reach a water source and make many rounds each day.

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RAHIMA | Lives Without Healthcare

Sheeraz Ali's eight-year-old daughter, Rahima, fell ill with a "mysterious" viral fever, which spread like a wild fire among children in Uttar Pradesh state's Firozabad district in August 2021. In a letter to the district administration, Ali pours out his heart as he narrates what happened after Rahima's sickness.

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LEOPARD IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Sarveshwar Prasad?s family is among the very few people in his village in northern India?s Uttarakhand state who have not migrated away out of fear of leopards. These wild cats are often seen wandering in residential areas in the state?s Pauri Garhwal district and sometimes mauling humans, even to death.

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SILIGURI

Host Mariya Rajan's quick visit to three hamlets near lush green tea gardens in Siliguri city and surrounding areas reveal that at least one child has gone "missing" in each of them. Was it just a coincidence, or is something changing in that region - which, being a gateway to the northeast India as well as the neighbouring countries …

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LIVES ON FIRE | Jharkhand State’s Underground Fire

A seven-year-old girl witnesses her mother?s death after a portion of land caves in, burying her under debris in Jharia coalfields in India's Jharkhand state, where an underground fire has been raging for over 100 years due to unscientific mining. The girl's father, Dilip Bauri, recalls the incident …

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IN THE GUISE OF LOVE

Shaheen (not her real name) is one of many women in West Bengal state?s Murshidabad district who believe that when men propose for marriage, they do so out of true love, not knowing that it could be mere pretence of love being used by human traffickers to sell them for labour or sex, or both.

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