205. The slippery road to maternal health in UP
Expectant mothers in Uttar Pradesh'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
March 30, 2022 | Parth M.N.
204. In Kheri: changing sides for health
The open border policy of India and Nepal has allowed their citizens to move freely between the two territories. In UP's Kheri district, it has helped people go across for cheaper and better healthcare
February 24, 2022 | Parth M.N.
203. ‘We could have really used the compensation’
Without a death certificate, a Covid test result or proof of hospitalisation, Shanti Devi's case is ineligible for UP government's ex gratia assistance. But her family in Varanasi district needs the money the most
February 10, 2022 | Parth M.N.
202. In UP: ‘We kept looking for a hospital bed'
Even a year after her husband'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
February 5, 2022 | Parth M.N.
201. ‘People like us are never treated well’
In Uttar Pradesh'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
January 31, 2022 | Parth M.N.
200. In Coimbatore: death, disease and divinity
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’
January 11, 2022 | Kavitha Muralidharan
199. The Mumbai guard who never knew security
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
December 14, 2021 | Aakanksha
198. 'We will be kicked out and no one will care'
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's aftermath
November 12, 2021 | Parth M. N.
197. Petrol price hikes fuel Sidhi salesmen’s struggles
In Madhya Pradesh'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
November 9, 2021 | Anil Kumar Tiwari
196. Phalai's forgotten alphabets, fraying uniforms
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
November 2, 2021 | Jyoti Shinoli
195. In Beed: 'It got easier to threaten and harass me'
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
October 29, 2021 | Parth M. N.
194. Varanasi weavers: facing a string of setbacks
It's been hard days for powerloom weavers in the city'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
October 28, 2021 | Samiksha
193. 'The possibility of a third wave is frightening'
Rama Gandewad and his family survived two waves of Covid-19 in a crematorium in Maharashtra's Osmanabad city. But they live in fear of going through it again
October 22, 2021 | Parth M. N.
192. In Haveri, Ratnavva's life of hopes and seeds
Caught in a cycle of debt and poverty, Ratnavva Harijan, an expert hand-pollinator in Karnataka's Haveri district, is doing everything she can to educate her children – including taking on casteist customs
October 20, 2021 | S. Senthalir
191. Performing the snake goddess in Sundarbans
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
October 18, 2021 | Ritayan Mukherjee
190. Dhakis for Durga: without skipping a drumbeat
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
October 8, 2021 | Sayandeep Roy
189. In Marathwada: forlorn farmers, fatal fears
In an already sinking economy, Covid-19, unseasonal rains and crop losses have pushed Marathwada's farmers further into debt. Driven by anxiety and despair, many have taken their own lives
October 6, 2021 | Parth M. N.
188. 'He became irritable, would snap at us’
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
September 17, 2021 | Parth M. N.
187. Taking a high road from Jharkhand to Ladakh
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
September 16, 2021 | Ritayan Mukherjee
186. In Osmanabad: crop insurance, no assurance
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
September 8, 2021 | Parth M. N.
185. In Mumbai: auctioned cabs, anguished drivers
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
September 3, 2021 | Aakanksha
184. In Ladakh: a shot in the arm at 11,000 feet
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
August 30, 2021 | Ritayan Mukherjee
183. 'We didn’t know our situation could get worse'
In Maharashtra'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
August. 26, 2021 | Parth M. N.
182. In Osmanabad: dodging and ducking the virus
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
August 17, 2021 | Parth M.N.
181. In Kolhapur: wrestlers’ diets, weighty problems
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
August 14, 2021 | Sanket Jain
180. Mumbai fishermen: no shelter from this storm
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
August 13, 2021 | Shraddha Agarwal
179. Koli women: fish, friendship and fighting spirit
Lockdown losses, major surgeries, jobless husbands and other struggles have hit Vandana Koli and Gayatri Patil, who sell fish at Mumbai's Colaba market. But the two find comfort in their close friendship of decades
August 11, 2021 | Shraddha Agarwal
178. Beed's child brides: cutting cane, crushing hopes
The pandemic is making an already difficult situation worse for teenagers like Rekha in Maharashtra's Beed district. Rising poverty, school closures and other factors are forcing girls into early marriage
August 10, 2021 | Parth M. N.
177. In Beed, waiting for a pandemic paradigm shift
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
August 6, 2021 | Parth M. N.
176. 'We don't want to go back to the city'
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
August 2, 2021 | Parth M. N.
175. Trans artists in Madurai: bullied, isolated, broke
Harassed, shunned by family, losing livelihoods – trans folk in Tamil Nadu are seeing the worst of times
July 29, 2021 | Reporting: S. Senthalir | Photographs: M. Palani Kumar
174. 'We have been pleading for a bridge in Sautada'
Covid-19 has heightened the physical isolation of Beed district's Sautada village, where people risk their lives crossing the river to access everything from markets to hospitals
July 28, 2021 | Parth M. N.
173. In Madurai: the trauma of trans folk artists
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
July 27, 2021 | Reporting: S. Senthalir | Photographs: M. Palani Kumar
172. 'In a week it was all over. The tests failed us'
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
July 26, 2021 | Rana Tiwari
171. Eating less, earning little, enduring more
For Maharashtra'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
July 15, 2021 | Jyoti Shinoli
170. Delhi's lastline workers: burning in silence
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
July 13, 2021 | Amir Malik
169. 'I waited for five days to get remdesivir'
A shortage of remdesivir in Maharashtra'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
July 9, 2021 | Parth M. N.
168. Ichalkaranji torans: gelatine, gods, greetings
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
July 8, 2021 | Sanket Jain
167. In Tuljapur, the price of priesthood
The closure of Tulja Bhavani temple due to Covid-19 has caused losses to many in Osmanabad's Tuljapur town. But the priests and residents are willing to wait until it is safe for the devotees to return
July 6, 2021 | Parth M. N.
166. Out of focus: Gateway of India photographers
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
July 2, 2021 | Aakanksha
165. Quiet blows the kombu in Madurai
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
June 29, 2021 | M. Palani Kumar
164. Beed hospitals: falling short of staff and care
Patients in Beed's understaffed government hospitals have been struggling without proper medical treatment after the second wave of Covid-19 peaked in the district
June 26, 2021 | Parth M. N.
163. 'We exhausted our savings to pay the hospital'
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
June 23, 2021 | Parth M. N.
162. 'We don’t trust government hospitals’
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
June 21, 2021 | Subuhi Jiwani and Haiyul Rahman Ansari
161. Karagattam artistes: on a bad stage in Madurai
Tamil Nadu's Karagattam performers, who depend on the art form for a living, are struggling without work and income – and they're anxious that the pandemic will end their dream of educating their children
June 16, 2021 | M. Palani Kumar
160. 'I am not a marriageable woman’
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
June 15, 2021 | Jigyasa Mishra
159. Medical help on thin ice for Dal Lake mohallas
For families living on islands in Srinagar'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 'doctors'
June 10, 2021 | Adil Rashid
158. Waiting for a shot in the arm in Beed
A shortage of vaccines and their unequal distribution are hindering many from getting inoculated in Maharashtra's Beed district before the imminent third wave of Covid-19
June 7, 2021 | Parth M. N.
157. Covid and the calligraphers of a qabristan
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
June 5, 2021 | Amir Malik
156. 'The dead aren’t aware of the funerals they get’
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
May 29, 2021 | Parth M. N.
155. UP: ‘Nothing can be done, duty has to be done’
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
May 27, 2021 | Jigyasa Mishra
154. Pardhis: positive, isolating in huts and broke
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
May 26, 2021 | Jyoti Shinoli
153. The king and the lone wheel of a tractor
He abhorred those pests getting adept in the dark arts of unity. A poem for the present times
May 24, 2021 | Joshua Bodhinetra
152. Counting the dead and lessons unlearned
Why were the classrooms deserted, the playgrounds on fire? A poem for teachers lost
May 22, 2021 | Pratishtha Pandya
151. Rural reporters: losing lives without a voice
Journalists in Maharashtra are dying of Covid-19 even as they've been demanding frontline-worker status. Without easy access to vaccines and good healthcare, reporters in rural areas are at greater risk
May 21, 2021 | Parth M. N.
150. UP panchayats: teacher death toll hits 1,621
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
MAY 18, 2021 | P. Sainath
149. In Marathwada: ‘I didn’t think he would die’
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
May 17, 2021 | Parth M.N.
148. Seeking Covid-care in Kalyan: debt unto death
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
May 15, 2021 | Aakanksha
147. In Palghar, the price of a pandemic
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
May 13, 2021 | Shraddha Agarwal
146. The King and his palace on pyre
As outrage pours in at the Centre's relentless work on the lavish Central Vista project amidst the pandemic, a poet recalls an old tale
May 12, 2021 | Poem and Text: Sayani Rakshit | Painting: Labani Jangi
145. In Tamil Nadu: taming TB in the time of Covid
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
May 11, 2021 | Kavitha Muralidharan
144. UP panchayats: for whom the polls toll
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
May 10, 2021 | Jigyasa Mishra
143. In Bihar: 'I got married during corona'
In Bihar'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
May 7, 2021 | Kavitha Iyer
142. Bharat is burning, Dharmaraja!
Epic characters tumble out gasping for air, but are pushed into an inferno by godlike guardians
May 5, 2021 | Anshu Malviya
141. 'With strangers was the journey too…’
The country is ablaze with a thousand bonfires of human lives. A poem about the pandemic
May 3, 2021 | Poem and Text: Gokul G. K. | Painting: Antara Raman
140. Five drops of crimson…farewell to the white
This is poetry that pierces, paintings that perforate – and a story of the pandemic
April 29, 2021 | Joshua Bodhinetra
139. 'I can’t do video editing in the village’
Haiyul Rahman Ansari came to Mumbai from rural Jharkhand 10 years ago to work as a video editor. But in the past year he's had to pack up and go home twice after losing jobs to the Covid-19 lockdowns
April 23, 2021 | Subuhi Jiwani
138. In Maldah: 'Nobody leaves out of choice'
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
April 19, 2021 | Parth M.N.
137. Waiting yet again in a last long line
A lifetime spent standing in queues – then one more at the very end. A poem on the Covid-19 crisis
April 19, 2021 | Pratishtha Pandya
136. Trying to get onto that train somehow
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
April 17, 2021 | Kavitha Iyer
135. Forbes, India and Pandora’s Pandemic Box
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
April 16, 2021 | P. Sainath
134. 'How do I earn, what do I eat?'
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
April 15, 2021 | Ira Deulgaonkar
133. Bihar’s ‘lady’ doctors: overworked, shouted at
For the few female gynaecologists working in Bihar's Kishanganj district, the day is long, medical supplies are short, and handling their patients' multiple pregnancies and contraception reluctance is an uphill task
April 7, 2021 | Anubha Bhonsle
132. In Nandurbar’s hilly hamlets: a vaccine too far
For Adivasis in remote hamlets of Maharashtra's Dhadgaon tract, Covid vaccination centres are inaccessible due to poor connectivity and costs, and even elders with severe illnesses are still waiting
April 5, 2021 | Jyoti Shinoli
131. 'Our office and sleeping area are the same'
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
March 26, 2021 | Jigyasa Mishra
130. 'For us there is always a lockdown – and work’
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
March 4, 2021 | Kavitha Muralidharan
129. Kids with disabilities – a fracture in learning
In farm families in Maharashtra's Ahmadnagar district, without the option of online classes for students with intellectual disabilities, the children have gone downhill and their parents' anxiety is growing
February 18, 2021 | Jyoti Shinoli
128. In Almora, moving mountains for childbirth
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
February 11, 2021 | Jigyasa Mishra
127. Peruvemba: struggling to retain its rhythm
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
January 19, 2021 | K.A. Shaji
126. 'I can only survive, I can’t live my life’
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
January 7, 2021 | Chaitra Yadavar
125. 'It was as if the entire country was walking’
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
January 5, 2021 | Jaideep Hardikar
124. In the Sundarbans, a tiger-shadowed wedding
Priyanka Mondal recently got married in the Sundarbans' 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
January 4, 2021 | Ritayan Mukherjee
123. Hoping against hope in Kamathipura
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
December 28, 2020 | Pratishtha Pandya
122. Online classes, offline class divisions
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' income was hit by the lockdown and its aftermath
December 24, 2020 | Jyoti Shinoli
121. Such a long journey, over and over again
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
December 19, 2020 | Aakanksha
120. Lallan Paswan: trying to pull on in Kolkata
Despite the government'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
December 17, 2020 | Puja Bhattacharjee
119. And you thought it’s only about farmers?
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
December 10, 2020 | P. Sainath
118. The conjuring: making your brother disappear
Street magicians Gulab and Shahzad Shaikh perform magic tricks and a disappearing act in West Bengal's Nadia district – but the one thing they can’t make disappear is hunger
December 9, 2020 | Soumyabrata Roy
117. Learning lessons from an un-amputated spirit
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
December 3, 2020 | Shraddha Agarwal
116. Palghar protests: 'We won't back down today'
On November 26, farmers from Adivasi communities gathered for a rasta roka in Maharashtra's Palghar district, in solidarity with the ongoing protests in Haryana-Delhi, and with their own 21-demand charter
November 28, 2020 | Shraddha Agarwal
115. Labouring to a Degree in the fields of Bidar
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
November 24, 2020 | Tamanna Naseer
114. School 2020: mapping futures in the lockdown
In parts of Odisha and Jharkhand, learning during the pandemic throws up surprising lessons for everyone
November 14, 2020 | PARI Education Team
113. 'Everyone knows what happens here to girls'
Soni came home to find that her five-year-old child had been sexually abused, though she and other sex workers in Mumbai's Kamathipura have tried to keep their kids safe while coping with lockdown-hit incomes
November 8, 2020 | Aakanksha
112. In Kashmir, no migrants to reap rice harvest
It'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
October 29, 2020 | Muzamil Bhat
111. The down but not out dhakis of the Durga Puja
The traditional drummers of rural Bengal are having a hard time in Kolkata this season
October 26, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
110. Maa Durga marching as migrant labourer
A Durga Puja pandal in Behala, Kolkata, has the goddess in a unique avatar
October 26, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
109. Burying 1,100 bodies and loads of prejudice
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
October 22, 2020 | Kavitha Muralidharan
108. One nation, no ration card
Rukhsana Khatoon, a domestic worker in Delhi, has tried for years to get a ration card in her husband's village in Bihar – and is now desperate for it with her family in a downward spiral due to the lockdown
October 20, 2020 | Sanskriti Talwar
107. The slowly disappearing students of Sundarbans
The odds are stacked against schooling in villages here – recurring cyclones, growing salinity that hits farming and fishing, the lockdown – all add to drop-out rates, early marriages and students seeking work
October 10, 2020 | Sovan Daniary
106. Lockdown lays waste to Kalu Das's scrap work
Some weeks ago, Kalu Das – who travels from his village to Kolkata to collect items for recycling – resumed his rounds. But business is bleak, profits are tiny, his wife has lost her job, and the family is struggling
October 7, 2020 | Puja Bhattacharjee
105. Rocking the boat in Srinagar’s Dal Lake
For the Dal Lake economy, the Covid-19 lockdown during tourist season came right after last year's Article 370 shutdown, and it has left shikarawalas, houseboat owners and shopkeepers with heavy losses and no work
October 3, 2020 | Adil Rashid
104. No stitch in time for Bengaluru tailors
With no income in the lockdown, Abdul Sattar and other embroiderers in Bengaluru were desperate to return to their West Bengal village. Now, with no work in the village, Sattar is desperate to come back to the city
September 30, 2020 | Smitha Tumuluru
103. Ashok Taare: denied leave, departs permanently
Despite Covid-19 symptoms, Ashok Taare, a sanitation worker in Mumbai, was forced to work without safety gear or leave. His family ran around for help, and months after his death on May 30, await compensation
September 29, 2020 | Jyoti Shinoli
102. 'To repair a watch is like mending time itself'
Watch menders at Visakhapatnam's Jagdamba Junction have seen work vanish due to digital timepieces and use-and-discard parts. And now, after lockdown curbs, they are trying to make up for lost time
September 24, 2020 | Amrutha Kosuru
101. UP Covid-19 survivors test positive for stigma
In UP, Covid-19 survivors, including returning migrants, struggle with costly treatment, dirty quarantine centres, social stigma, even religious discrimination. Many long to go back to their host towns
September 1, 2020 | Jigyasa Mishra
100. 'We don’t have a home to stay at home’
For this group of nomadic pastoralist Dhangar families in Maharashtra, the lockdown brought a drop in sales of sheep, restricted access to village grounds, and depleted rations – but they have tried to move on
August 28, 2020 | Shraddha Agarwal
99. Vizag potters: idols of clay, immersion in debt
The artisans in this AP city usually earn the most during the festival season – starting with Ganesh Chaturthi today. But they have not received a single bulk order for Ganesh idols and other products so far this year
August 22, 2020 | Amrutha Kosuru
98. Mumbai's homeless: 'Our masks floated away'
Meena and her family, living on a pavement, are among the city’s many homeless persons, with bare incomes and little access to healthcare or state schemes – and now struggling with the monsoon and the pandemic
August 21, 2020 | Aakanksha
97. Lockdown hits Kolkata children’s hospital
Hamstrung by lockdown logistics, with just 40 per cent staff reporting due to the social stigma affecting healthcare workers, and despite financial problems, the Institute of Child Health soldiers on
August 18, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
96. A melting pot of lockdown losses
The Ganpati festival starting this week, then Durga Puja and Diwali, were peak seasons for potters in Delhi's Uttam Nagar. Now, they are looking at a period of poor sales, as are potters in Kachchh and West Bengal
August 17, 2020 | Srishti Verma
95. ASHAs: labouring through the lockdown
In Maharashtra’s Osmanabad district, ASHA workers have been working overtime to monitor the spread of Covid-19 despite poor safety gear and delayed payments – along with their usual load as frontline health workers
August 13, 2020 | Ira Deulgaonkar
94. In UP: ‘Half Karnataka and half Andhra’
Birendra Singh and Ramdekali, who ran a paani-puri stall in AP, returned home to UP during the lockdown. They are now in debt, anxious about their kids' education, and unsure about how to proceed
August 12, 2020 | Riya Behl
93. 'We didn’t bleed him enough’
A major problem in this Covid crisis is not about how soon we can return to normal. For hundreds of millions of poor Indians, the ‘normal’ was the problem. And the new normal is often the old normal on steroids
August 10, 2020 | P. Sainath
92. Coping with a deadly virus – a social one, too
The home-hospital-quarantine-home journeys of Covid-19 patients are not always the same for people from different communities. PARI traces the stories of of two families in Maharashtra's Marathwada region
August 8, 2020 | Parth M.N.
91. 'If we don’t work, who'll produce the harvest?'
With kharif cultivation of paddy underway, labourers are back in the fields of Dhamtari in Chhattisgarh. They know about Covid-19 precautions, but say they can't afford to not work
August 8, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur
90. Running after ration cards in a maze in MP
Dashrath Singh, a farmer and labourer in Umaria district, has been unable to procure a ration card despite multiple attempts and expenses. His is one of MP’s many BPL families caught in a tangle of forms and offices
August 6, 2020 | Akanksha Kumar
89. In the Sundarbans, taken by a storm
Many have left their villages in the Sundarbans in recent years after floods and cyclones have taken away their land, homes and livelihoods – Amphan, in the midst of the lockdown, was the fourth in two decades
August 1, 2020 | Sovan Daniary
88. Labourers’ lives: migrating feet, settled grief
So who is that migrant – the person the media discovered on March 25? An agonisingly perceptive look at that question through the prism of a childhood and lived experience in Mumbai
July 27, 2020 | Jyoti Shinoli
87. 'What should my family do?'
In the Adivasi cluster of Boranda village, Vanita Bhoir and her family, who migrate to work in the brick kilns of Maharashtra, have run out of work options, food and money – and are running low on hope too
July 21, 2020 | Mamata Pared
86. In Palghar: ‘two less stomachs to feed’
The lockdown saw demand for labour shrink for the Katkaris, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. That may have pushed Mangal Wagh to kill her own daughter and herself
July 20, 2020 | Parth M.N.
85. Seeing ‘the world through touch’ in a pandemic
Vimal and Naresh Thackeray, both visually impaired, used to sell handkerchiefs on Mumbai’s local trains. The lockdown left them, and many others, with no income, little government support and great uncertainty
July 10, 2020 | Jyoti Shinoli
84. Sitting idol in locked-down Kumartuli
Business has come to a standstill in Kumartuli, Kolkata’s historic potters’ colony, with almost no demand for Maa Durga idols and other statues. Artisans, vendors and labourers are looking at a season of huge losses
July 09, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
83. With rhyme and reason – rap song for migrants
In Kalahandi district, Duleshwar Tandi – ‘Rapper Dule Rocker’ – a tuition teacher, construction worker and occasional migrant, expresses anguish through this song at the plight of migrants in the lockdown
July 04, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur
82. Locked down AP farmers going bananas
Banana farmers in Anantapur district were expecting a good price after a robust rabi harvest this year. Instead, some bad weather and then the lockdown have left them with huge losses and debt
July 01, 2020 | G. Ram Mohan
81. Schoolkids: digital divide to digital partition
What does the rush to ‘online education’ look like on the ground in a poor Adivasi area like Talasari in Maharashtra’s Palghar district? PARI explores how that further spurs already serious inequalities
June 29, 2020 | Parth M.N.
80. Songs of love for the migrant away from home
Muktabai Ubhe of Khadakwadi hamlet in Mulshi taluka, Pune, sings nine ovi about a wife’s love and longing for her husband, who has gone away in search of work
June 26, 2020 | Namita Waikar and PARI GSP Team
79. Memories of pox, plague, and pandemics in TN
From Tamil writer Cho Dharman, an invaluable oral history of how villages over centuries engaged with viruses, plagues and epidemics – relating that to the current Covid-19 pandemic and life under lockdown
June 25, 2020 | Aparna Karthikeyan
78. Lockdown has hit UP women hard – literally
The lockdown has seen a rise in domestic violence in a country where it was anyway endemic. PARI listens to women at the receiving end in Mahoba, Lucknow and Chitrakoot districts of Uttar Pradesh
June 23, 2020 | Jigyasa Mishra
77. Lockdown forces Eeswar to climb trees again
With only 10-15 days of sales this year due to the lockdown, and fewer customers buying ice apples, vendors in Visakhapatnam have lost out on a chunk of their income from selling the popular summer fruit
June 22, 2020 | Amrutha Kosuru
76. Karnataka silk route: cocoon farmers in crisis
At Asia’s largest cocoon market in Ramanagara, Karnataka, a lockdown-driven steep fall in prices and disruption of the demand-supply chain has badly hit weavers, reelers and, particularly, silkworm farmers
June 21, 2020 | Tamanna Naseer
75. Under the over in a time of cyclone and corona
Despite Cyclone Amphan, no income due to the lockdown and Covid fears, Sarita Sardar preferred to evade hostile cops and poor shelter facilities, and returned to her home under Kolkata’s Gariahat flyover
June 18, 2020 | Puja Bhattacharjee
74. Dealing with dissonance, restoring harmony
Several hereditary harmonium repairmen – now a very rare occupation – from Jabalpur, MP, were trapped in Renapur, Maharashtra, for over two months due to the lockdown. They tell PARI how they coped
June 15, 2020 | Ira Deulgaonkar
73. Feet of clay: Chhattisgarh's potters, locked down
In Dhamtari town, potters missed their peak summer sales season due the lockdown, when making and selling pots became difficult. Despite markets now opening in Chhattisgarh, they are facing an uncertain year.
June 15, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur
72. I am a labourer, not a liability
The mass exodus of millions of migrant labourers following the March 25 lockdown continues to fire the imagination of poets and painters. This poem rebukes our many hypocrisies in dealing with workers
June 15, 2020 | Anjum Ismail
71. Off guard: Nepal migrants in locked down AP
With no income during the lockdown, Suresh Bahadur, a security guard in AP's Bhimavaram town, struggled with depleting supplies, sickness and uncertainty about returning home – across the border, to Nepal
June 11, 2020 | Riya Behl
70. Another brick in Telangana's lockdown wall
Kuni Tamalia and other kiln workers in Telangana’s Sangareddy district continued their arduous work in the lockdown. But with kids to care for and Covid fears, they were anxious to board a Shramik Special for Odisha
June 11, 2020 | Varsha Bhargavi
69. The migrant and the moral economy of the elite
The lockdown has revealed the brutality of India's chronic disregard for the rights of migrant labourers – millions who don't need our passing concern, but full justice, says this article, first published in India Today
June 8, 2020 | P. Sainath
68. 'Stay and do nothing or go back to do nothing?'
A day after migrant construction workers Amoda and Rajesh reached their new workplace in Bengaluru, the lockdown began – leaving them with no wages and nowhere to go. A PARI report by high school students
June 8, 2020 | Asba Zainab Shareef and Sidh Kavedia
67. Cash crops, Covid and the cost of unsold cotton
Huge quantities of cash crops lie unsold across India – like cotton in Maharashtra. A hunger crisis looms, yet farmers in Vidarbha a plan to sow cotton, not food crops, once again this kharif season
June 5, 2020 | Jaideep Hardikar
66. No fireworks, but alcohol adds fuel to the virus
Like many Arunthathiyar women in TN’s Virudhunagar, Devi Kankaraj works at a fireworks factory in Sivakasi. The lockdown left her with no income, depleting rations, piling debt and an alcoholic husband
June 04, 2020 | S. Senthalir
65. When the water chased people like a mad bull
In the Sundarbans in West Bengal, Cyclone Amphan came atop the Covid-19 lockdown. PARI visited the region and found widespread destruction of trees, houses and utilities – and of people’s already-frayed livelihoods
June 03, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
64. Iron in the migrants’ soul
The tragedy of the 16 migrant labourers run over by a train near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, on May 8, still haunts us. This moving poem and compelling painting remind us of that dreadful incident
May 31, 2020 | Gokul G. K.
63. Rising dust, itchy skin, sweat-soaked masks
How do you adhere to distancing norms if you are labourers at a procurement centre – like these men in Telangana’s Nalgonda district – who need close teamwork to handle 213 kilograms of paddy a minute?
May 30, 2020 | Harinath Rao Nagulavancha
62. 'These women won't let anyone go hungry'
In lockdown time, Kerala’s 400-plus ‘Kudumbashree Hotels’, give cheap but wholesome meals to people low on income – students, medical attendants, security guards, drivers of ambulances and many others
May 28, 2020 | Gokul G. K.
61. Homeward bound through the centre of India
Many of the millions who’ve hit the highways under the lockdown are going to thousands of villages in northern and eastern states. A huge number of them pass through the city of Nagpur, centre of India
May 27, 2020 | Sudarshan Sakharkar
60. Who will carry the palanquins of the rich now?
Several state governments have suspended labour laws and extended working hours, and the situation of migrant labourers has worsened. An interview with PARI's Founder Editor P. Sainath, from the Firstpost
May 27, 2020 | Parth M.N.
59. 'We went from a handful to nothing’
Migrant workers in Jammu, like the Chandra family from Chhattisgarh, were left with no work when the lockdown began. They got by with rations given by nearby buildings, and are now slowly finding work again
MAY 26, 2020 | Rounak Bhat
58. Amphan meets lockdown in struggling Kolkata
The cyclonic storm that savaged West Bengal on May 20 left Kolkata struggling to clear up – because the labourers needed to do that had mostly left the city for their villages long ago due to the lockdown
MAY 25, 2020 | The PARI Team
57. Hit with cancer, Covid-19 and without shelter
Geeta and Satendar Singh came to Mumbai from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district for Geeta’s cancer treatment. Living on the footpath near Tata Memorial Hospital, both have tested positive for Covid-19
May 25, 2020 | Aakanksha
56. The photographer writes – for better or verse
When the lockdown enhances the suffering of human beings you’ve grown up knowing and caring about for decades, says this photographer, it forces you to express yourself in poetry, beyond the lens
May 24, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur
55. Panvel to MP: Four days and nights on a scooter
Countless migrants have tried to reach home during the lockdown using any transport they could. One family journeyed 1,200 kilometres from Panvel in Maharashtra to Reva district in MP on a two-wheeler
May 23, 2020 | Parth M.N.
54. Lockdown leads to makeshift market in Tehatta
People in ‘hotspots’ have adapted to lockdown-driven closures of the bazaars they depend on. In West Bengal’s Nadia district, vendors have created a temporary market selling vegetables and other fresh produce
May 22, 2020 | Soumyabrata Roy
53. 'We don’t fear coronavirus or the heat now’
When their wages stopped and then food ran out, workers from Gaya, Bihar, employed in restaurants in Varanasi, made their slow way home – while others from the district remain stranded in faraway Tamil Nadu
May 22, 2020 | Rituparna Palit
52. 'What's the use of this ration card?'
When even their paltry income stopped due to the Covid-19 lockdown, and their BPL ration cards were rejected at PDS outlets, April was the cruelest month for Gayabai Chavan and others in Pune
May 19, 2020 | Jitendra Maid
51. You can’t lockdown this mother of all smiles
In those huge lines of migrants walking determinedly along the Mumbai-Nashik highway in Maharashtra, the image of this extraordinary mother sparked the imagination of the artist
May 18, 2020 | Labani Jangi
50. The long march of the locked-down migrants
This haunting song by Aadesh Ravi, Hyderabad-based composer, lyric writer and singer, is surely one of the most powerful cries that’s emerged about the lockdown-driven migrations across India
May 16, 2020 | Aadesh Ravi
49. Ironed out of an income in Vada this lockdown
For families in Vada town of Palghar district who make a living by ironing clothes, the Covid-19 lockdown has reduced daily incomes to a trickle. Many are struggling to procure rations and seeking other work
May 15, 2020 | Shraddha Agarwal
48. Jamlo's last journey along a locked-down road
A 12-year-old Adivasi girl from Chhattisgarh, working in the chilli fields of Telangana, died on April 18 after walking for three days with other labourers desperately trying to return home. PARI visits her village
May 14, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur and Kamlesh Painkra
47. Locked down in Telangana — a basket case
The Covid-19 lockdown has halted the basket trade in Telangana’s Kangal village. For now, basket makers of the Yerukuka ST community are relying on some agricultural work, and rice from the PDS and relief packages
May 13, 2020 | Harinath Rao Nagulavancha
46. Locked-down schoolgirls: no basic needs, period
With schools shut, girls from poor families in Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot district have lost access to free sanitary napkins and are turning to risky options. In UP alone, the numbers of such girls runs to millions
May 12, 2020 | Jigyasa Mishra
45. Old lady and nephew on lockdown highway
The scenes of migrant labourers walking hundreds of kilometres from their workplaces to reach their homes, continue to haunt us. One image, though, gave this artist a sense of hope and humanity
May 11, 2020 | Labani Jangi
44. Locked-down with blood on the tracks
The 16 labourers – 8 of them Gond Adivasis – run over by a goods train on May 8 near Aurangabad district in Maharashtra were all in their 20s and 30s, and from Umaria and Shahdol districts of Madhya Pradesh
May 10, 2020 | Pratishtha Pandya
43. Seeking lockdown relief in Rachenahalli
Work has stopped for the migrant daily wage-earners of a slum colony in north Bengaluru, savings have run out, food is scarce – but they still have rent to pay, children to feed, and hunger that has to be quelled
May 9, 2020 | Sweta Daga
42. MP weavers hanging by a Chanderi thread
The Covid-19 lockdown has brought the centuries-old Chanderi fabric trade in MP's Chanderi town to a standstill. Many weavers like Suresh Koli are in a fix due to no demand, unpaid dues and depleting resources
May 7, 2020 | Mohit M. Rao
41. The migrant march of red ants under lockdown
How long can one watch hungry migrant labourers stranded half-way from their villages when there is Chinese-Thai dinner waiting to be prepared at home? A poem that tears into indifference and inequality
May 6, 2020 | Pratishtha Pandya
40. MFI loans: fear and loathing in lockdown times
The poor have seen earnings plummet with Covid-19 and the lockdown. But no matter how high the distress, micro finance institutions in Marathwada continue to harass their helpless clients for loan instalments
May 4, 2020 | Parth M.N
39. In lockdown, this is no country for old men
A repairman, a weaver and a ropemaker – a Muslim, an Adivasi, and a Dalit, highly-skilled craftsmen – in Belagavi, Karnataka and Kolhapur, Maharashtra. All of them elderly and without work under the lockdown
May 4, 2020 | Sanket Jain
38. Locked-down on Labour Day: no work, no pay
A new documentary film in which the migrant labourers who make up most of the workforce on Bengaluru’s metro rail project explain their situation in Covid-19 lockdown time
May 1, 2020 | Yashashwini and Ekta
37. Dola Ram’s long and locked-down road home
Construction worker Dola Ram lost his son just after he reached his village in Rajasthan – with poor medical attention in lockdown time. Now, like other migrant labourers, he is grappling with debt and uncertainty
April 30, 2020 | Drishti Agarwal and Preema Dhurve
36. Kachchh camel herders: lockdown last straw?
What happens if you are nomadic pastoralists with huge herds of animals far away from home when the Covid-19 lockdown was enforced? The Fakirani Jats of Gujarat’s Kachchh district tell their story
April 28, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
35. Locked into the kilns, brick by brick
Thousands of migrant workers from Odisha are stranded at Telangana's brick kilns – exploitative worksites made more difficult with the lockdown – and are running out of rations and desperate to return home
April 27, 2020 | Varsha Bhargavi
34. AP fishermen: between lockdown and deep sea
Fishermen in Visakhapatnam make their best profits in the two weeks before the annual April 15-June 14 ban on fishing during the breeding season. This year, that crucial period has come during the lockdown
April 26, 2020 | Amrutha Kosuru
33. Vanavil: rainbow in the storms of lockdown life
A small school in Nagapattinam has become the centre of nutrition for over 1,000 poor families in the Adivasi hamlets of that Tamil Nadu district. And its efforts are not restricted to just students
April 23, 2020 | Kavitha Muralidharan
32. Vidarbha’s pastoralists paying a pandemic price
The Nanda Gaolis and other dairy farmers in eastern Maharashtra are facing losses from the drop in demand for milk and broken supply chains, besides grappling with animal health problems and fodder shortages
April 22, 2020 | Jaideep Hardikar and Chetana Borkar
31. 'Even the boats must be missing their men’
The Covid-19 lockdown has battered the livelihoods of the Nishad boatmen of Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh. Many in the community, like Sushma Devi, a pregnant mother and widow, don’t even have ration cards
April 20, 2020 | Jigyasa Mishra
30. ASHAs: fighting a pandemic with no protection
ASHA workers in Haryana’s Sonipat district have been pushed to the frontlines of the fight against Covid-19 in a later-than-last-minute attempt to control a pandemic – with no safety gear and very little training
April 18, 2020 | Pallavi Prasad
29. Walking 104 kilometres without a break
Brick-kiln workers in Thane and Palghar, most of them Adivasi agricultural labourers, have been forced by the Covid-19 lockdown to return home with barely any income until the arrival of monsoon
April 17, 2020 | Jyoti Shinoli
28. Washing their hands of hope in Citizen Nagar
The Covid-19 lockdown has come as the proverbial last straw on the backs of the already suffering community of Ahmedabad’s Citizen Nagar colony, heightening hunger and sharpening existing health risks
April 16, 2020 | Pratishtha Pandya
27. Bags on their heads, fear in their hearts
The Covid-19 lockdown-driven distress migrations have touched poets and artists alike. Here's a response
April 16, 2020 | Gokul G. K.
26. Wilting mahua, wasted baskets, silent haats
The Covid-19 lockdown has shredded the fragile economy of the Kamars, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group in Chhattisgarh, who depend on a trickle of income from weaving baskets and selling mahua flowers
April 15, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur
25. Lockdown burden on little shoulders in Latur
With their parents out of work or at reduced wages, school students from distressed families in Marathwada's Latur are having to sell vegetables on the streets despite the risky Covid-19 lockdown scenario
April 12, 2020 | Ira Deulgaonkar
24. 'Now the melons are on the verge of rotting'
The Covid-19 lockdown has left watermelon farmers in Tamil Nadu’s Chengalpattu district in a fix. With few buyers and transporters, many are being forced to let their fruit rot or accept terribly low prices
April 11, 2020 | Sibi Arasu
23. 'Some are eating only one meal a day now'
The Covid-19 lockdown has left many daily wage workers in Bengaluru without an income or fall-back options
April 10, 2020 | Sweta Daga
22. Watermelon farmers: left with no juice
Even before the Covid-19 crisis, watermelon cultivation in Telangana was risky, with high inputs and falling rates – and now, with the lockdown, farmers, labourers and traders are facing a bleak season
April 9, 2020 | Harinath Rao Nagulavancha
21. Barbers in lockdown: a hair’s breadth from ruin
In Latur district of Marathwada, the lockdown has severely hit barbers – they rely entirely on daily earnings, and for them the idea of physical distancing from their clients is unthinkable
April 8, 2020 | Ira Deulgaonkar
20. Hunger on the table, city under lockdown
The promise of free rations does not assure food on the table during the Covid-19 lockdown for domestic workers and municipal staff, many of them migrants, living in Pune's Kothrud neighbourhood
April 8 , 2020 | Jitendra Maid
19. Locking down craft: handmade, hung out to dry
Craftspeople all over the country have been hit hard by the Covid-19 lockdown. PARI speaks to weavers, dyers, toymakers and village artists from north, south, east, west and central India to gauge the fallout
April 7, 2020 | Priti David
18. The lady and the lamp – a poem for April 5
The nine-minute lights-off, lamps-on event of April 5 impacted different people in diverse ways. This was how one poet in Ahmedabad responded to it…
April 6, 2020 | Pratishtha Pandya
17. AP cops elevate Covid-19 messaging to art form
In Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, police rope in a mythological sorcerer in the battle against the coronavirus
April 6, 2020 | Rahul M.
16. Sundarbans: Mousani eats better in lockdown
A small, remote island in the Sundarbans, West Bengal, which has endured many disasters, is relying on its own resources to make it through the Covid-19 crisis and lockdown
April 5, 2020 | Abhijit Chakraborty
15. In Tamil Nadu: playing Parai on lockdown, live!
Parai artists Manimaran and Magizhini are tapping into social media to continue performing under lockdown, and spreading awareness about Covid-19 through talks and recorded videos
April 4, 2020 | Kavitha Muralidharan
14. Anantapur lockdown diary: March 19-April 3
Corona consciousness is growing very slowly in the city and district of Anantapur in the Rayalaseema region
April 3, 2020 | Rahul M.
13. Ladakhis stuck in Covid-19 test limbo in Iran
As many as 254 Indian pilgrims from Ladakh, most of them elderly, have been stranded for over a month in the city of Qom in Iran, sparking tension at home
April 2, 2020 | Stanzin Saldon
12. And miles to go before they sleep – or eat
The Covid-19 lockdown has left migrant Adivasi brick kiln workers in Maharashtra's Palghar district with little money and food – and an ultimatum from their village to return, where only uncertainty awaits them
April 1, 2020 | Mamata Pared
11. Pardhis in lockdown – begging the question
Some Phanse Pardhi Adivasis in rural Maharashtra, especially older ones in their late 70s, depend on begging to be able to eat at all. What happens now, when they cannot enter the villages that feed them?
April 1, 2020 | Jyoti Shinoli
10. Where country roads don’t take you home
With the COVID-19 driven lockdown, Chenakonda Balasami and other pastoralists in Telangana, on the road for months, are finding it difficult to access food and new grazing grounds – or return to their villages
March 31, 2020 | Harinath Rao Nagulavancha
9. Still cutting cane amidst corona and curfew
For the lakhs of labourers hired by the sugar factories of western Maharashtra, social distancing is a distant dream. Many in Sangli district are still chopping cane in unhygienic conditions despite the fear of Covid-19
March 30, 2020 | Parth M.N.
8. Locked down with cancer on Mumbai footpaths
With their money running out and little food and water available, cancer patients living on footpaths near the Tata Memorial Hospital are caught in the lockdown, with no way home
March 30, 2020 | Aakanksha
7. Corona refugees on a 538-kilometre journey
Some reporters in rural Chhattisgarh are trying hard to cover people migrating in distress
March 30, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur
6. In Chhattisgarh: barricades as social distancing
Across parts of the Bastar region, people are setting up barricades denying entry to ‘outsiders’ – and restricting the access of even migrants returning to their own villages
March 30, 2020 | Purusottam Thakur
5. Sanitation workers – the wages of ingratitude
Sanitation workers in Chennai are walking long distances to work during the lockdown, or journeying on garbage lorries. Taking leave for a day during this period invites penalties, even sacking
March 29, 2020 | M. Palani Kumar
4. 'Soaps won’t save us if we die of hunger first'
Most of the Adivasi families of Kavatepada in Palghar district survive on daily wage labour at construction sites. That work has stopped with the Covid-19 lockdown, and they are fast running out of money and rations
March 28, 2020 |
Shraddha Agarwal
3. What we should do about Covid-19
The government’s ‘package’ responding to the crisis is a blend of callousness and cluelessness
March 27, 2020 | P. Sainath
2. Tuljapur's temple economy goes into viral mode
In Marathwada's Tuljapur, shopkeepers, vendors and others whose livelihoods depend on the famous temple in town, are struggling with no sales after the March 17 lockdown measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19
March 24, 2020 | Medha Kale
1. Essential services, expendable lives
That’s the story of Mumbai’s safai karamcharis on the frontlines of the battle against Covid-19. Wages delayed, and with little protective gear, they’re still clearing garbage even in the toxic air of the Mahul area.
