On Landlessness and Poverty in Bihar, With a Dalit Family
Amar Ram would hide whenever the village landlords arrived to recruit labourers, often coercing them into working in their agricultural fields for a meager wage of 2.5 kg of paddy. His wife becomes emotional whenever she recalls the time when their meals consisted of nothing more than chili and chapati. Poverty, forced labor, and hunger were the consequences of feudalism in Bihar, as in many other places. But is it a thing of the past? A Newsreel Asia journalist visited a Dalit family in the West Champaran district of Bihar to understand what has or hasn't changed in the state.
