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FeaturesOrissa's Sambalpuri weavers: From boom to bust
After enjoying several years of prosperity and success, the weavers of Orissa's famous Sambalpuri sari (former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's favourite attire) have fallen on hard times. Government apathy and the closure of cooperatives that ensured the weavers stability and a good price have forced many weavers into seeking a living pulling rickshaws or working as farm labour More... Penalising clients of sex workers: Pros and consWill the amendments to the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act proposed by the government protect sex workers from exploitation at the hand of clients and police, or will it end up making them more vulnerable? More... Is it the end of the road for Mirzapur's famed carpet weavers?Our correspondent finds the master carpet weavers of Mirzapur are sitting along the roadside selling onions and potatoes. Younger weavers are forced to ply rickshaws or work as daily labourers. With fierce international competition and the withdrawal of state support, Mirzapur-Bhadohi's famous carpet weaving industry is quickly dying More... Jharkhand's beasts of burdenA few thousand haggard men from the Chutu Palu Ghati survive by pushing bicycles laden with 300 kg of 'waste' coal up the Ranchi-Patna highway. It is backbreaking work, paying them a pittance, but it's the only form of livelihood available for three-quarters of the year when there's no farming to be done More... JPL power plant: Riding roughshod over people's concernsProtests against the 1,000 MW thermal power plant in Tamnar village, Chhattisgarh, continue, even as the mandatory public hearing that is part of the environment clearance procedure turned out to be a sham. The proposed dam and the diversion of the river will submerge lands, and seriously impact the livelihoods of local communities More... Dancers in the darkAs three bar dancers commit suicide in Mumbai following the ban on dance bars in Maharashtra, an SNDT study busts several myths about the working conditions, backgrounds and lifestyles of these More... 'The poor are the worst victims of statist control'The laws governing livelihoods in India make it impossible to pursue a legitimate occupation without being terrorised or fleeced by some government agency or the other. Liberalisation has failed to create an enabling environment for 90% of the country's workforce that operate in the informal sector, says Madhu Kishwar More... Moving fishermen off their lands: Safety considerations or dispossession?Fishermen in some tsunami-affected regions in south India are allegedly being forced to sign documents stating that they are relinquishing their land. If they don't, they are denied government relief material. The move is ostensibly aimed at shifting them out of the danger zone and further inland More... Mining for change at the Jethwai cooperativeThanks to the formation of a cooperative, miners in Jethwai village in Rajasthan can now expect a fair wage for the backbreaking work they do. The Mine Labour's Protection Campaign (MLPC), a Jodhpur-based group of activists, has set up 10 such cooperatives throughout the state to improve the lives of Rajasthan's 30-lakh-odd mine workers More... Eliminating the middleman in Bastar's Rs 1,000 crore NTFP tradeThe Bajawand Primary Forest Produce Cooperative Society, in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, is a model for other cooperatives. Spearheaded by an illiterate tribal woman, Kalawati, the PFPCS has witnessed greater women's participation and bypassed corrupt middlemen More... No boats and nets: The livelihoods crisis45,920 boats have been lost or damaged in the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India. The replacement of boats and nets and the restoration of their livelihoods is uppermost in fishermen's minds. But each boat could cost between Rs 10,000-80,000. A special report on the priorities of rehabilitation from Cuddalore district More... Adrift on the BrahmaputraThe crisis of livelihood in flood-affected Assam has reduced former landowners to illegal foragers of driftwood from the river More... Play fair at the OlympicsAs athletes perform swifter, higher and stronger at the Athens Olympics, millions of sweatshop workers have been working faster, longer and cheaper to make the fashionable sportswear. International coalitions are working to draw attention to the exploitation of these workers. In India, an alternative Olympic torch was carried from Tirupur to Ludhiana and other major Indian garment-producing centres More... Mithila's women paint their way out of povertyThe Bharati Vikas Manch, in Bihar's Barheta village, has been instrumental in teaching poor village women the famous Mithila genre of painting. The skill has helped transform lives and ward off poverty in many backward villages in the state More... Voices of women in prostitutionWomen of the SANGRAM collective for women in prostitution in Sangli meet regularly to discuss issues and problems. All have stories to tell about their lives and their profession More... |
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