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<h2>205. <a id="17753" linktype="page">The slippery road to maternal health in UP</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Expectant mothers in Uttar Pradesh&#39;s Sitapur and Varanasi districts are at risk from anaemia, poor nutrition and inadequate healthcare. The fallout from the pandemic has added to the harm</p><h5>March 30, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5><p></p>

The slippery road to maternal health in UP

<h2>204. <a id="17439" linktype="page">In Kheri: changing sides for health</a></h2><p></p><p>The open border policy of India and Nepal has allowed their citizens to move freely between the two territories. In UP&#39;s Kheri district, it has helped people go across for cheaper and better healthcare</p><h5>February 24, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5><p></p>

In Kheri: changing sides for health

<h2>203. <a id="17202" linktype="page">‘We could have really used the compensation’</a></h2><p></p><p>Without a death certificate, a Covid test result or proof of hospitalisation, Shanti Devi&#39;s case is ineligible for UP government&#39;s ex gratia assistance. But her family in Varanasi district needs the money the most</p><h5>February 10, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5><p></p>

‘We could have really used the compensation’

<h2>202. <a id="17155" linktype="page">In UP: ‘We kept looking for a hospital bed&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>Even a year after her husband&#39;s death from Covid-19, the cost of the pandemic weighs heavily on Anita Singh. In Uttar Pradesh, the crisis of public healthcare has left many like her poorer, and in debt</p><h5>February 5, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5><p></p>

In UP: ‘We kept looking for a hospital bed'

<h2>201. <a id="17072" linktype="page">‘People like us are never treated well’</a></h2><p></p><p>In Uttar Pradesh&#39;s Varanasi and Chandauli districts, discrimination of marginalised communities affects their access to healthcare. For Lakshima and Salimun, the pandemic has brought on even more hardship</p><h5>January 31, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5>

‘People like us are never treated well’

<h2>200. <a id="16841" linktype="page">In Coimbatore: death, disease and divinity</a></h2><p></p><p>Plague has receded into the shadows of Coimbatore city’s history. Yet temples built seeking a cure from that deadly disease still attract greater crowds than the newly arrived shrine for ‘Corona Devi’</p><h5>January 11, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/kavitha-muralidharan/">Kavitha Muralidharan</a></h5><p></p>

In Coimbatore: death, disease and divinity

<h2>199. <a id="16615" linktype="page">The Mumbai guard who never knew security</a></h2><p></p><p>The security guard on the ground in a building reaching the sky in the big city could not go back to his village to meet his wife and newborn baby. He waited, he pleaded, he planned, he tried – until it was too late</p><h5>December 14, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/aakanksha/">Aakanksha</a></h5><p></p>

The Mumbai guard who never knew security

<h2>198. <a id="16310" linktype="page">&#39;We will be kicked out and no one will care&#39;</a></h2><p>In Beed district, a Pardhi family suffered assault, rape, killing, and had to flee their home. Living in constant fear of displacement, the stigmatised community is struggling to survive in the pandemic&#39;s aftermath<br/></p><h5>November 12, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5>

'We will be kicked out and no one will care'

<h2>197.<a id="16280" linktype="page"> Petrol price hikes fuel Sidhi salesmen’s struggles</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p></p><p>In Madhya Pradesh&#39;s Sidhi district, feriwalas who go to villages on motorbikes to sell sarees, sheets and other items say they survived the lockdowns but the rising cost of petrol is decimating their business</p><h5>November 9, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/anil-kumar-tiwari/">Anil Kumar Tiwari</a></h5><p></p>

Petrol price hikes fuel Sidhi salesmen’s struggles

<h2>196.<a id="16189" linktype="page"> Phalai&#39;s forgotten alphabets, fraying uniforms</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>With their residential schools still closed, and online classes beyond their reach, the few skills that Adivasi children in remote villages of Maharashtra’s Nandurbar have learnt in classrooms are slipping away</p><h5>November 2, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a></h5><p></p>

Phalai's forgotten alphabets, fraying uniforms

<h2>195.<a id="16143" linktype="page"> In Beed: &#39;It got easier to threaten and harass me&#39;</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>In Maharashtra’s Beed district, a rape survivor was forced to return to her village and face harassment and social boycott – amidst the pandemic, income losses and a long fight for justice</p><h5>October 29, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

In Beed: 'It got easier to threaten and harass me'

<h2>194.<a id="16130" linktype="page"> Varanasi weavers: facing a string of setbacks</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>It&#39;s been hard days for powerloom weavers in the city&#39;s Bazardiha cluster – with lockdowns and monsoon flooding. But it’s the UP government’s review of their electricity subsidy that has them the most worried</p><h5>October 28, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/samiksha/">Samiksha</a></h5><p></p>

Varanasi weavers: facing a string of setbacks

<h2>193.<a id="16070" linktype="page"> &#39;The possibility of a third wave is frightening&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>Rama Gandewad and his family survived two waves of Covid-19 in a crematorium in Maharashtra&#39;s Osmanabad city. But they live in fear of going through it again</p><h5>October 22, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

'The possibility of a third wave is frightening'

<h2>192.<a id="16043" linktype="page"> In Haveri, Ratnavva&#39;s life of hopes and seeds</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Caught in a cycle of debt and poverty, Ratnavva Harijan, an expert hand-pollinator in Karnataka&#39;s Haveri district, is doing everything she can to educate her children – including taking on casteist customs</p><h5>October 20, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/s-senthalir/">S. Senthalir</a></h5><p></p>

In Haveri, Ratnavva's life of hopes and seeds

<h2>191.<a id="16019" linktype="page"> Performing the snake goddess in Sundarbans</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Farmers and labourers from Rajat Jubilee village in West Bengal come together to perform the Manasa pala gaan, a traditional musical play dedicated to the snake goddess – and keep rural theatre alive</p><h5>October 18, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

Performing the snake goddess in Sundarbans

<h2>190.<a id="15935" linktype="page"> Dhakis for Durga: without skipping a drumbeat</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>The drums of Agartala’s dhakis are already pounding, with Durga Puja beginning on October 11. At other times, these drummers ply cycle rickshaws, or work as vendors, farmers, plumbers and electricians</p><h5>October 8, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/sayandeep-roy/">Sayandeep Roy</a></h5><p></p>

Dhakis for Durga: without skipping a drumbeat

<h2>189.<a id="15891" linktype="page"> In Marathwada: forlorn farmers, fatal fears</a></h2><p></p><p>In an already sinking economy, Covid-19, unseasonal rains and crop losses have pushed Marathwada&#39;s farmers further into debt. Driven by anxiety and despair, many have taken their own lives</p><h5>October 6, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p><p><br/></p>

In Marathwada: forlorn farmers, fatal fears

<h2>188.<a id="15687" linktype="page"> &#39;He became irritable, would snap at us’</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Covid-19’s impact on livelihoods has unsettled many children and young adults like Krishna Gawade in Beed district. Trying to cope with anxiety and depression, they are struggling alone with their mental health</p><h5>September 17, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

‘He became irritable, would snap at us’

<h2>187.<a id="15684" linktype="page"> Taking a high road from Jharkhand to Ladakh</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Migrant labourers from Jharkhand and other states, who arrived in Ladakh when the second Covid-19 wave began to subside, have been building roads at altitudes of over 10,000 feet in extremely harsh conditions</p><h5>September 16, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

Taking a high road from Jharkhand to Ladakh

<h2>186.<a id="15604" linktype="page"> In Osmanabad: crop insurance, no assurance</a></h2><p></p><p>Unseasonal rains, changing weather patterns and the Covid-19 pandemic have increased the risks of farmers in Marathwada, but the government-backed crop insurance scheme has hardly given them succour</p><h5>September 8, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

In Osmanabad: crop insurance, no assurance

<h2>185.<a id="15565" linktype="page"> In Mumbai: auctioned cabs, anguished drivers</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Over 40 cabs lying unattended for long during the lockdowns were auctioned off by Mumbai airport authorities in June. But many of the drivers were in their villages, and are devastated by this action</p><h5>September 3, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/aakanksha/">Aakanksha</a></h5><p></p>

In Mumbai: auctioned cabs, anguished drivers

<h2>184.<a id="15517" linktype="page"> In Ladakh: a shot in the arm at 11,000 feet</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Health workers in Leh rise above the natural landscape, harsh weather conditions, poor telecommunication networks, and a lack of proper healthcare facilities in battling the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic</p><h5>August 30, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

In Ladakh: a shot in the arm at 11,000 feet

<h2>183.<a id="15489" linktype="page"> &#39;We didn’t know our situation could get worse&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>In Maharashtra&#39;s Beed district, the Misal, Waghamare and Bhutadmal families – who were surviving in a struggling rural economy as it is – are now hit hard by the pandemic-induced recession</p><h5>August. 26, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

'We didn’t know our situation could get worse'

<h2>182.<a id="15373" linktype="page"> In Osmanabad: dodging and ducking the virus</a></h2><p>Sportspeople like Rushikesh Ghadge from rural Maharashtra are staring at an uncertain future now – the pandemic has been pushing players out of wrestling rings and kho-kho courts in Osmanabad district</p><h5>August 17, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5>

In Osmanabad: dodging and ducking the virus

<h2>181.<a id="15353" linktype="page"> In Kolhapur: wrestlers’ diets, weighty problems</a><p></p></h2><p>Maharashtra’s famed wrestlers, particularly those in Kolhapur, a great centre of this sporting discipline, have been devastated by Covid-19, two floods, cancelled tournaments, falling income and poor diets</p><h5>August 14, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/sanket-jain/">Sanket Jain</a></h5>

In Kolhapur: wrestlers’ diets, weighty problems

<h2>180.<a id="15342" linktype="page"> Mumbai fishermen: no shelter from this storm</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p>In recent years, fishermen who set sail from south Mumbai’s Sassoon Dock have weathered cyclones, falling fish catch, poor sales – but the impact of the lockdowns since March 2020 has proved to be the hardest<br/></p><h5>August 13, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shraddha-agarwal/">Shraddha Agarwal</a></h5>

Mumbai fishermen: no shelter from this storm

<h2>179.<a id="15317" linktype="page"> Koli women: fish, friendship and fighting spirit</a></h2><p>Lockdown losses, major surgeries, jobless husbands and other struggles have hit Vandana Koli and Gayatri Patil, who sell fish at Mumbai&#39;s Colaba market. But the two find comfort in their close friendship of decades</p><h5>August 11, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shraddha-agarwal/">Shraddha Agarwal</a></h5>

Koli women: fish, friendship and fighting spirit

<h2>178.<a id="15285" linktype="page"> Beed&#39;s child brides: cutting cane, crushing hopes</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>The pandemic is making an already difficult situation worse for teenagers like Rekha in Maharashtra&#39;s Beed district. Rising poverty, school closures and other factors are forcing girls into early marriage</p><h5>August 10, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

Beed's child brides: cutting cane, crushing hopes

<h2>177.<a id="15242" linktype="page"> In Beed, waiting for a pandemic paradigm shift</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Though praised as ‘fighters and heroes’ for their role in managing Covid-19, Maharashtra’s frontline workers feel ignored and insecure – they have been fighting for job security and financial stability</p><h5>August 6, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

In Beed, waiting for a pandemic paradigm shift

<h2>176.<a id="15194" linktype="page"> &#39;We don&#39;t want to go back to the city&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>Pushed to return home after the sudden lockdown last year, migrant workers in Beed district are still grappling with loss and trauma. Many are settling for less work and lesser pay</p><h5>August 2, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

'We don't want to go back to the city'

<h2>175.<a id="15149" linktype="page"> Trans artists in Madurai: bullied, isolated, broke</a></h2><p></p><p>Harassed, shunned by family, losing livelihoods – trans folk in Tamil Nadu are seeing the worst of times</p><h5>July 29, 2021 | Reporting: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/s-senthalir/">S. Senthalir</a> | Photographs: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/m-palani-kumar/">M. Palani Kumar</a></h5><p></p>

Trans artists in Madurai: bullied, isolated, broke

<h2>174.<a id="15130" linktype="page"> &#39;We have been pleading for a bridge in Sautada&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>Covid-19 has heightened the physical isolation of Beed district&#39;s Sautada village, where people risk their lives crossing the river to access everything from markets to hospitals</p><h5>July 28, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

'We have been pleading for a bridge in Sautada'

<h2>173.<a id="15119" linktype="page"> In Madurai: the trauma of trans folk artists</a></h2><p></p><p>While the pandemic has devastated many folk artists across Tamil Nadu, trans women performers have been among the worst hit – with barely any work or income, and no access to aid or state benefits</p><h5>July 27, 2021 | Reporting: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/s-senthalir/">S. Senthalir</a> | Photographs: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/m-palani-kumar/">M. Palani Kumar</a></h5><p></p>

In Madurai: the trauma of trans folk artists

<h2>172.<a id="15016" linktype="page"> &#39;In a week it was all over. The tests failed us&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>Misdiagnosis, delayed testing, disbelief, underreporting – all may have masked the real number of Covid casualties in Uttar Pradesh during the second surge, as is evident from the experiences of these five families</p><h5>July 26, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/rana-tiwari/">Rana Tiwari</a></h5><p></p>

'In a week it was all over. The tests failed us'

<h2>171.<a id="14993" linktype="page"> Eating less, earning little, enduring more</a></h2><p></p><p>For Maharashtra&#39;s Masanjogi and Pardhi nomadic communities, a steep income drop during the lockdowns has meant cutting back on food – and without ration cards, they cannot even access subsidised grains</p><h5>July 15, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a><p></p></h5><p></p>

Eating less, earning little, enduring more

<h2>170.<a id="14981" linktype="page"> Delhi&#39;s lastline workers: burning in silence</a></h2><p></p><p>Cremation workers Harinder and Pappu worked non-stop at Nigam Bodh crematorium during the second Covid wave in Delhi – risking their lives with no protection or insurance, and waiting for a pay hike</p><h5>July 13, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/amir-malik/">Amir Malik</a></h5><p></p>

Delhi's lastline workers: burning in silence

<h2>169.<a id="14928" linktype="page"> &#39;I waited for five days to get remdesivir&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>A shortage of remdesivir in Maharashtra&#39;s Beed district forced Ravi Bobde, a farmer, to move his Covid-positive parents elsewhere. Others have gone into debt buying the antiviral drug on the black market</p><h5>July 9, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

'I waited for five days to get remdesivir'

<h2>168.<a id="14926" linktype="page"> Ichalkaranji torans: gelatine, gods, greetings</a></h2><p></p><p>At 70, Muralidhar Jawahire of Maharashtra’s Ichalkaranji town still painstakingly makes paper-bamboo torans – decorative door hangings – and retains a sense of pride in a craft no one wants to learn anymore</p><h5>July 8, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/sanket-jain/">Sanket Jain</a></h5><p></p>

Ichalkaranji torans: gelatine, gods, greetings

<h2>167.<a id="14895" linktype="page"> In Tuljapur, the price of priesthood</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>The closure of Tulja Bhavani temple due to Covid-19 has caused losses to many in Osmanabad&#39;s Tuljapur town. But the priests and residents are willing to wait until it is safe for the devotees to return</p><h5>July 6, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

In Tuljapur, the price of priesthood

<h2>166.<a id="14877" linktype="page"> Out of focus: Gateway of India photographers</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Many photographers who have for decades created images and memories for visitors at this popular Mumbai monument have been shuttered out – first by the spread of selfies, and now due to the lockdowns</p><h5>July 2, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/aakanksha/">Aakanksha</a></h5><p></p>

Out of focus: Gateway of India photographers

<h2>165.<a id="14827" linktype="page"> Quiet blows the kombu in Madurai</a></h2><p></p><p>Kombu artistes in Tamil Nadu are struggling without any income from temple festivals and public events during the Covid-19 lockdowns. But their worries are more about the declining art</p><h5>June 29, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/m-palani-kumar/">M. Palani Kumar</a></h5><p></p>

Quiet blows the kombu in Madurai

<h2>164.<a id="14810" linktype="page"> Beed hospitals: falling short of staff and care</a></h2><p></p><p>Patients in Beed&#39;s understaffed government hospitals have been struggling without proper medical treatment after the second wave of Covid-19 peaked in the district</p><h5>June 26, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

Beed hospitals: falling short of staff and care

<h2>163.<a id="14763" linktype="page"> &#39;We exhausted our savings to pay the hospital&#39;</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Poor public infrastructure, unaffordable private medical care and limited access to the state health insurance scheme are pushing Covid patients and their families into long-term debt in Marathwada</p><h5>June 23, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

'We exhausted our savings to pay the hospital'

<h2>162.<a id="14733" linktype="page"> &#39;We don’t trust government hospitals’</a></h2><p></p><p>Ajay Kumar Saw, a clothes seller in Jharkhand’s Asarhia village, spent Rs. 1.5 lakh on Covid-19 care at a private clinic and is now in debt. A story co-authored by a video editor who lives in the same village</p><h5>June 21, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/subuhi-jiwani/">Subuhi Jiwani</a> and <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/haiyul-rahman-ansari/">Haiyul Rahman Ansari</a></h5><p></p>

‘We don’t trust government hospitals’

<h2>161.<a id="14690" linktype="page"> Karagattam artistes: on a bad stage in Madurai</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Tamil Nadu&#39;s Karagattam performers, who depend on the art form for a living, are struggling without work and income – and they&#39;re anxious that the pandemic will end their dream of educating their children</p><h5>June 16, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/m-palani-kumar/">M. Palani Kumar</a></h5><p></p>

Karagattam artistes: on a bad stage in Madurai

<h2>160.<a id="14678" linktype="page"> &#39;I am not a marriageable woman’</a></h2><p></p><p>Sex workers in the Chaturbhuj Sthan brothel of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, who often go through pregnancies at an early age to please their ‘permanent’ clients, were badly hit by the Covid-19 lockdowns</p><h5>June 15, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jigyasa-mishra/">Jigyasa Mishra</a></h5><p></p>

‘I am not a marriageable woman’

<h2>159.<a id="14626" linktype="page"> Medical help on thin ice for Dal Lake mohallas</a></h2><p></p><p>For families living on islands in Srinagar&#39;s Dal Lake, most of them farmers, labourers and in the tourism trade, a single and usually shut PHC means they must rely on local chemists who double up as &#39;doctors&#39;</p><h5>June 10, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/adil-rashid/">Adil Rashid</a></h5><p></p>

Medical help on thin ice for Dal Lake mohallas

<h2>158.<a id="14605" linktype="page"> Waiting for a shot in the arm in Beed</a></h2><p></p><p>A shortage of vaccines and their unequal distribution are hindering many from getting inoculated in Maharashtra&#39;s Beed district before the imminent third wave of Covid-19</p><h5>June 7, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

Waiting for a shot in the arm in Beed

<h2>157.<a id="14586" linktype="page"> Covid and the calligraphers of a qabristan</a></h2><p></p><p>Business is booming – and breaking the hearts of those in the trade of calligraphic inscription and engraving on gravestones in Al-Jadeed, one of New Delhi’s largest cemeteries</p><h5>June 5, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/amir-malik/">Amir Malik</a></h5><p></p>

Covid and the calligraphers of a qabristan

<h2>156.<a id="14503" linktype="page"> &#39;The dead aren’t aware of the funerals they get’</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>The pandemic has compelled that funerals take place, physically and socially, in ways not seen before. They are now more about logistics than loss. PARI reports on these from Maharashtra’s Osmanabad district</p><h5>May 29, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

‘The dead aren’t aware of the funerals they get’

<h2>155.<a id="14480" linktype="page"> UP: ‘Nothing can be done, duty has to be done’</a></h2><p></p><p>The rising Covid-19 death toll among UP teachers on compulsory duty during the panchayat polls also draws attention to the exploitative ‘shiksha mitra’ system. PARI tracks three ‘mitras’ who lost their lives</p><p></p><h5>May 27, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jigyasa-mishra/">Jigyasa Mishra</a></h5>

UP: ‘Nothing can be done, duty has to be done’

<h2>154.<a id="14469" linktype="page"> Pardhis: positive, isolating in huts and broke</a></h2><p></p><p>At this Adivasis settlement in Pune district, Covid positive persons are isolating in straw huts, with no electricity or water, and sparse rations. Masking, ventilation, oximeters and more have no meaning here</p><h5>May 26, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a></h5><p></p>

Pardhis: positive, isolating in huts and broke

<h2>153.<a id="14421" linktype="page"> The king and the lone wheel of a tractor</a></h2><p></p><p>He abhorred those pests getting adept in the dark arts of unity. A poem for the present times</p><h5>May 24, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shubhankar-das-joshua-bodhinetra/">Joshua Bodhinetra</a></h5><p></p>

The king and the lone wheel of a tractor

<h2>152.<a id="14416" linktype="page"> Counting the dead and lessons unlearned</a></h2><p></p><p>Why were the classrooms deserted, the playgrounds on fire? A poem for teachers lost</p><h5>May 22, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/pratishtha-pandya/">Pratishtha Pandya</a></h5><p></p>

Counting the dead and lessons unlearned

<h2>151.<a id="14410" linktype="page"> Rural reporters: losing lives without a voice</a></h2><p></p><p>Journalists in Maharashtra are dying of Covid-19 even as they&#39;ve been demanding frontline-worker status. Without easy access to vaccines and good healthcare, reporters in rural areas are at greater risk</p><h5>May 21, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M. N.</a></h5><p></p>

Rural reporters: losing lives without a voice

<h2>150.<a id="14367" linktype="page"> UP panchayats: teacher death toll hits 1,621</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Why was the UP government okay with holding the panchayat polls in April, which have now unleashed a catastrophe that keeps growing? PARI brings you an update</p><h5>MAY 18, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

UP panchayats: teacher death toll hits 1,621

<h2>149.<a id="14357" linktype="page"> In Marathwada: ‘I didn’t think he would die’</a></h2><p></p><p>The sudden deaths of Prabhakar Survase and Shivaji Kate, their families believe, were due to a shortage of oxygen supply in the Covid hospitals of Beed and Osmanabad – districts with limited health resources</p><h5>May 17, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5><p></p>

In Marathwada: ‘I didn’t think he would die’

<h2>148.<a id="14337" linktype="page"> Seeking Covid-care in Kalyan: debt unto death</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>The family of Gopal Gupta, a vegetable vendor in Kalyan near Mumbai, who tested Covid positive in March, spent nearly Rs. 5 lakhs on private healthcare – and still lost him later in a public hospital in the city</p><h5>May 15, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/aakanksha/">Aakanksha</a></h5><p></p>

Seeking Covid-care in Kalyan: debt unto death

<h2>147.<a id="14308" linktype="page"> In Palghar, the price of a pandemic</a></h2><p></p><p>Chaos reigns outside a state-run hospital in rural Maharashtra, with families – many from Adivasi communities – seeking beds or grieving a loss in a district ill-equipped to handle Covid’s onslaught</p><h5>May 13, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shraddha-agarwal/">Shraddha Agarwal</a></h5><p></p>

In Palghar, the price of a pandemic

<h2>146.<a id="14283" linktype="page"> The King and his palace on pyre</a></h2><p></p><p>As outrage pours in at the Centre&#39;s relentless work on the lavish Central Vista project amidst the pandemic, a poet recalls an old tale</p><h5>May 12, 2021 | Poem and Text: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/sayani-rakshit/">Sayani Rakshit</a> | Painting: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/labani-jangi/">Labani Jangi</a></h5><p></p>

The King and his palace on pyre

<h2>145.<a id="14281" linktype="page"> In Tamil Nadu: taming TB in the time of Covid</a></h2><p></p><p>Fighting tuberculosis – India’s worst infectious disease killer for decades – always daunting, becomes even harder during the Covid pandemic, as the lives of three women ‘TB warriors” in Tamil Nadu show us</p><h5>May 11, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/kavitha-muralidharan/">Kavitha Muralidharan</a></h5><p></p>

In Tamil Nadu: taming TB in the time of Covid

<h2>144.<a id="14253" linktype="page"> UP panchayats: for whom the polls toll</a></h2><p></p><p>Over 700 schoolteachers working as polling officials in the Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections have died of Covid-19 and more are in danger, with 8 lakh new cases reported in just 30 days around the polls</p><h5>May 10, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jigyasa-mishra/">Jigyasa Mishra</a></h5><p></p>

UP panchayats: for whom the polls toll

<h2>143.<a id="14240" linktype="page"> In Bihar: &#39;I got married during corona&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>In Bihar&#39;s villages, during the lockdown last year, teenage girls were married off to young male migrant workers who returned home. Many are now pregnant and anxious about what comes next</p><h5>May 7, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/kavitha-iyer/">Kavitha Iyer</a><p></p></h5><p></p>

In Bihar: 'I got married during corona'

<p></p><h2>142.<a id="14227" linktype="page"> Bharat is burning, Dharmaraja!</a></h2><p></p><p>Epic characters tumble out gasping for air, but are pushed into an inferno by godlike guardians</p><h5>May 5, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/anshu-malviya/">Anshu Malviya</a></h5>

Bharat is burning, Dharmaraja!

<h2>141.<a id="14215" linktype="page"> &#39;With strangers was the journey too…’</a></h2><p></p><p>The country is ablaze with a thousand bonfires of human lives. A poem about the pandemic</p><h5>May 3, 2021 | Poem and Text: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/gokul-g-k/">Gokul G. K.</a> | Painting: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/antara-raman/">Antara Raman</a></h5><p></p>

‘With strangers was the journey too…’

<h2>140.<a id="14184" linktype="page"> Five drops of crimson…farewell to the white</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p></p><p>This is poetry that pierces, paintings that perforate – and a story of the pandemic</p><h5>April 29, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shubhankar-das-joshua-bodhinetra/">Joshua Bodhinetra</a></h5><p></p>

Five drops of crimson…farewell to the white

<h2>139.<a id="14146" linktype="page"> &#39;I can’t do video editing in the village’</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Haiyul Rahman Ansari came to Mumbai from rural Jharkhand 10 years ago to work as a video editor. But in the past year he&#39;s had to pack up and go home twice after losing jobs to the Covid-19 lockdowns</p><h5>April 23, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/subuhi-jiwani/">Subuhi Jiwani</a></h5><p></p>

‘I can’t do video editing in the village’

<h2>138.<a id="14109" linktype="page"> In Maldah: &#39;Nobody leaves out of choice&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>With no industrial activity and low wages in agriculture, men from Bhagabanpur in Maldah district go to work in faraway places like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, just to survive and send money home</p><h5>April 19, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/">Parth M.N.</a></h5><p></p>

In Maldah: 'Nobody leaves out of choice'

<h2>137.<a id="14103" linktype="page"> Waiting yet again in a last long line</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>A lifetime spent standing in queues – then one more at the very end. A poem on the Covid-19 crisis</p><h5>April 19, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/pratishtha-pandya/">Pratishtha Pandya</a></h5><p></p>

Waiting yet again in a last long line

<h2>136.<a id="14090" linktype="page"> Trying to get onto that train somehow</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Mohammed Shamim is returning to his UP village unable to handle wage loss twice in this pandemic year – like others in a second wave of migrants. Many in his north Mumbai slum colony have already left</p><h5>April 17, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/kavitha-iyer/">Kavitha Iyer</a></h5><p></p>

Trying to get onto that train somehow

<h2>135.<a id="14076" linktype="page"> Forbes, India and Pandora’s Pandemic Box</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>In a year GDP contracted 7.7 per cent, and as we brace for another round of ‘reverse’ migrations, and as the farmers wait unheeded at the gates of Delhi, Indian billionaires reached record levels of wealth</p><h5>April 16, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Forbes, India and Pandora’s Pandemic Box

<h2>134.<a id="14073" linktype="page"> &#39;How do I earn, what do I eat?&#39;</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>In Marathwada, women living on their own, like Azubi Ladaph and Jehedabi Sayed, struggle to earn an income. Along with social exclusion, the pandemic and discrimination are making it harder for them</p><h5>April 15, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/ira-deulgaonkar/">Ira Deulgaonkar</a></h5><p></p>

'How do I earn, what do I eat?'

<h2>133.<a id="13982" linktype="page"> Bihar’s ‘lady’ doctors: overworked, shouted at</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>For the few female gynaecologists working in Bihar&#39;s Kishanganj district, the day is long, medical supplies are short, and handling their patients&#39; multiple pregnancies and contraception reluctance is an uphill task</p><h5>April 7, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/anubha-bhonsle/">Anubha Bhonsle</a></h5><p></p>

Bihar’s ‘lady’ doctors: overworked, shouted at

<h2>132.<a id="13958" linktype="page"> In Nandurbar’s hilly hamlets: a vaccine too far</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>For Adivasis in remote hamlets of Maharashtra&#39;s Dhadgaon tract, Covid vaccination centres are inaccessible due to poor connectivity and costs, and even elders with severe illnesses are still waiting</p><h5>April 5, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a></h5><p></p>

In Nandurbar’s hilly hamlets: a vaccine too far

<h2>131.<a id="13804" linktype="page"> &#39;Our office and sleeping area are the same&#39;</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Shortage of space and lack of facilities compel health workers in a primary health centre in Bihar’s Darbhanga district to sleep in the office, on ward beds, and sometimes even on the floor</p><h5>March 26, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jigyasa-mishra/">Jigyasa Mishra</a></h5><p></p>

'Our office and sleeping area are the same'

<h2>130.<a id="13567" linktype="page"> &#39;For us there is always a lockdown – and work’</a></h2><p></p><p>Stigma, poor pay, discrimination, arduous hours of live-saving work – nurses have been among those at highest risk during the pandemic. PARI interacts with some of these real frontline warriors in Chennai</p><h5>March 4, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/kavitha-muralidharan/">Kavitha Muralidharan</a></h5><p></p>

‘For us there is always a lockdown – and work’

<h2>129.<a id="13447" linktype="page"> Kids with disabilities – a fracture in learning</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>In farm families in Maharashtra&#39;s Ahmadnagar district, without the option of online classes for students with intellectual disabilities, the children have gone downhill and their parents&#39; anxiety is growing</p><h5>February 18, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a></h5><p></p>

Kids with disabilities – a fracture in learning

<h2>128.<a id="13405" linktype="page"> In Almora, moving mountains for childbirth</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Last year, Rano Singh of Uttarakhand’s Almora district gave birth on the road, halfway uphill to a hospital, in a region where the terrain and expenses compel many in the mountain hamlets to deliver at home</p><h5>February 11, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/jigyasa-mishra/">Jigyasa Mishra</a></h5><p></p>

In Almora, moving mountains for childbirth

<h2>127.<a id="13160" linktype="page"> Peruvemba: struggling to retain its rhythm</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>With no sales in the Covid-19 lockdown, and difficulty in procuring rawhide for their bespoke percussion instruments, the Kadachi Kollan craftspeople in Kerala’s Peruvemba village are missing a steady income</p><h5>January 19, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/k-a-shaji/">K.A. Shaji</a><p></p></h5><p></p>

Peruvemba: struggling to retain its rhythm

<h2>126.<a id="13038" linktype="page"> &#39;I can only survive, I can’t live my life’</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>A 27-year-old migrant worker from Bihar in Mumbai speaks of how hard it was to make the journey home during the lockdown, and the inevitable grip of the city on his present and future</p><h5>January 7, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/chaitra-yadavar/">Chaitra Yadavar</a></h5><p></p>

‘I can only survive, I can’t live my life’

<h2>125.<a id="13025" linktype="page"> &#39;It was as if the entire country was walking’</a></h2><p></p><p>Months after walking home 800 kilometres in terrible conditions, migrant labourers in Maharashtra’s Gondia district recall their journey on foot from Telangana during the April-June period of the lockdown</p><h5>January 5, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/jaideep-hardikar/">Jaideep Hardikar</a></h5><p></p>

‘It was as if the entire country was walking’

<h2>124.<a id="13001" linktype="page"> In the Sundarbans, a tiger-shadowed wedding</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Priyanka Mondal recently got married in the Sundarbans&#39; Rajat Jubilee village amid memories of her father, Arjun Mondal, whose death in a tiger attack in 2019 has left his family struggling with sorrow and finances</p><h5>January 4, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

In the Sundarbans, a tiger-shadowed wedding

<h2>123.<a id="12948" linktype="page"> Hoping against hope in Kamathipura</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Sex workers in Kamathipura have been struggling to give their children a life of dignity. Here is a poem inspired by two stories about the realities faced by these women caught in a pandemic of misery</p><h5>December 28, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/pratishtha-pandya/">Pratishtha Pandya</a></h5><p></p>

Hoping against hope in Kamathipura

<h2>122.<a id="12918" linktype="page"> Online classes, offline class divisions</a></h2><p></p><p>Students living in the Ambujwadi slum in north Mumbai are struggling with online classes for months, while also working to support their families after their parents&#39; income was hit by the lockdown and its aftermath</p><p></p><p></p><h5>December 24, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/jyoti-shinoli/">Jyoti Shinoli</a></h5><p></p>

Online classes, offline class divisions

<h2>121.<a id="12875" linktype="page"> Such a long journey, over and over again</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>When Vikram, 15, ran away from home in August, his mother, a sex worker in Kamathipura, brought him back again – he has run away before, tried odd jobs, got into fights – all in a desperate effort to build a life</p><h5>December 19, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/aakanksha/">Aakanksha</a></h5><p></p>

Such a long journey, over and over again

<h2>120.<a id="12859" linktype="page"> Lallan Paswan: trying to pull on in Kolkata</a></h2><p></p><p>Despite the government&#39;s attempts to restrict hand-pulled rickshaws, lockdown losses, and bare earnings, Lallan Paswan continues to do this arduous work to support his family in Bihar’s East Champaran district</p><h5>December 17, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/puja-bhattacharjee/">Puja Bhattacharjee</a></h5><p></p>

Lallan Paswan: trying to pull on in Kolkata

<h2>119.<a id="12790" linktype="page"> And you thought it’s only about farmers?</a></h2><p></p><p>The new farm laws disable the right to legal recourse of all citizens, not just farmers – to an extent unseen since the 1975-77 Emergency. The farmers at Delhi’s gates are fighting for the rights of us all</p><h5>December 10, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

And you thought it’s only about farmers?

<h2>118.<a id="12778" linktype="page"> The conjuring: making your brother disappear</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Street magicians Gulab and Shahzad Shaikh perform magic tricks and a disappearing act in West Bengal&#39;s Nadia district – but the one thing they can’t make disappear is hunger</p><h5>December 9, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/soumyabrata-roy/">Soumyabrata Roy</a></h5><p></p>

The conjuring: making your brother disappear

<h2>117.<a id="12721" linktype="page"> Learning lessons from an un-amputated spirit</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Last year, gangrene cost Pratibha Hilim all four limbs. But this Adivasi teacher in Palghar, Maharashtra, has continued undaunted, teaching students who have little chance of an ‘online education’, at her own home</p><h5> December 3, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shraddha-agarwal/">Shraddha Agarwal</a></h5><p></p><p></p>

Learning lessons from an un-amputated spirit

<h2>116.<a id="12671" linktype="page"> Palghar protests: &#39;We won&#39;t back down today&#39;</a></h2><p></p><p>On November 26, farmers from Adivasi communities gathered for a rasta roka in Maharashtra&#39;s Palghar district, in solidarity with the ongoing protests in Haryana-Delhi, and with their own 21-demand charter</p><h5>November 28, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/shraddha-agarwal/">Shraddha Agarwal</a></h5><p></p>

Palghar protests: 'We won't back down today'

<h2>115.<a id="12635" linktype="page"> Labouring to a Degree in the fields of Bidar</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>Dalits and Adivasis with hard-earned and loan-funded BTech, BEd, MBA, LLB and other degrees have lost their pre-lockdown jobs and are now doing MGNREGA work in northeastern Karnataka’s Bidar district</p><h5>November 24, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/tamanna-naseer/">Tamanna Naseer</a></h5>

Labouring to a Degree in the fields of Bidar

<h2>114.<a id="12555" linktype="page"> School 2020: mapping futures in the lockdown</a><p></p><p></p></h2><p>In parts of Odisha and Jharkhand, learning during the pandemic throws up surprising lessons for everyone</p><h5>November 14, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/pari-education-team/">PARI Education Team</a></h5>

School 2020: mapping futures in the lockdown

<h2>113.<a id="12484" linktype="page"><b> &#39;Everyone knows what happens here to girls&#39;</b></a></h2><p>Soni came home to find that her five-year-old child had been sexually abused, though she and other sex workers in Mumbai&#39;s Kamathipura have tried to keep their kids safe while coping with lockdown-hit incomes<br/></p><h5>November 8, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/aakanksha/">Aakanksha</a></h5>

'Everyone knows what happens here to girls'

<h2>112.<a id="12404" linktype="page"> In Kashmir, no migrants to reap rice harvest</a></h2><p></p><p>It&#39;s been a tough paddy harvest in Central Kashmir. Skilled migrant workers, who charge less than local labourers, were driven out by the lockdowns, and farmers here are thinking of giving up on the crop</p><h5>October 29, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/muzamil-bhat/">Muzamil Bhat</a></h5><p></p>

In Kashmir, no migrants to reap rice harvest

<h2>111.<a id="12350" linktype="page"> The down but not out dhakis of the Durga Puja</a><p></p></h2><p></p><p>The traditional drummers of rural Bengal are having a hard time in Kolkata this season</p><h5>October 26, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

The down but not out dhakis of the Durga Puja

<h2>110.<a id="12346" linktype="page"> Maa Durga marching as migrant labourer</a></h2><p></p><p>A Durga Puja pandal in Behala, Kolkata, has the goddess in a unique avatar</p><h5>October 26, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a></h5><p></p>

Maa Durga marching as migrant labourer

<h2>109.<a id="12313" linktype="page"> Burying 1,100 bodies and loads of prejudice</a></h2><p></p><p>With a lot of stigma and hostility disrupting several Covid-19 funerals, in Tamil Nadu a voluntary group has helped hundreds of families conduct the rites regardless of religion or caste</p><h5>October 22, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/kavitha-muralidharan/">Kavitha Muralidharan</a></h5><p></p>

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