Not long ago, early morning meant starting the long walk to the city for the child beggars of Jambunatha Bypass. As the name suggests, this is a small hamlet on the bypass road that joins Hospet city to the mining hills. It is inhabited for several decades by a group of nomadic tribal families who live by begging for food and money.
Read MoreIn the Lambani community, to which Shruthi and her friends Tara Bai, Jothi Bai and Rupa belong most girls are married at 15 and mothers thrice over by the age of 18. If that feels like the start of a difficult life, their problems were multiplied by the denial of access to the forest due to mining, leading to a loss of food security.
Read MoreWith a father in Indian Railways and a mother who is a house wife, Shiv Shankar has 2 sisters and 4 brothers. Perhaps it is his many siblings that makes Shiv Shankar vocal about the issues facing children and youth, especially their ecological rights.
Read MoreJarsini, a Standard 9 student in St. Jude’s Higher Secondary School in the coastal village of Pallam in Kanyakumari is a hero in our eyes. Jarsini and her friends had been facing verbal abuse from a newly appointed school principal for some months.
Read MoreNearly 40% of 17-year old Renu Kumari’s home state Jharkhand lives below the poverty line. Economic hardship drives parents to marry their daughters as children, believing marriage is the endgame anyway and doing so early means one less mouth to feed.
Read MoreDiscrimination against the girl child occurs in every strata of society – rich or poor – but is more visible in poverty stricken families. A girl is frequently force-fitted into a culturally defined role, be it at home or outside.
Read MoreThanks to 65-year old Delby and her team of 9 energetic women from the fishing community of Chinnathurai, this small coastal settlement in Kanyakumari today is a model village in waste management.
Read MoreVinda Devi, Gurbina Devi and many Musahar women are resolutely fighting the living conditions faced by their marginalised community in the remote village of Gaurishriram, UP, which lacks even basic facilities like housing, water or sanitation.
Read MoreDespite poverty and hunger being constant companions, childhood friends Suresh and Shanker, two educated youth of village Karaundi in Umariya district, refused to let disillusionment and dejection overwhelm them.
Read MoreAs the clean and sparkling Ramganga flows by the banks of Chaukhutiya block in Almora district, Uttarakhand, it reflects the passion and enthusiasm of the local children and youth who restored the river from the clutches of pollution.
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