ABSSS

Manikpur block, Chitrakoot District, UP, 13 August

In the tribal Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh bordering Madhya Pradesh, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme has failed to stop starving people from fleeing the place in the

Giduraha village, Chitrakoot, UP, 14 August

Two tribal sarpanches are determined to make the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme a success in their part of Uttar Pradesh, whatever the odds.

Sanju Kol, a 30-something woman with short

Basaundha, Chitrakoot district, UP, 15 August

In the village of Basaundha of Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district, at an NREGP worksite, about 60 workers surround an elderly villager who explains to them and instructs them even as the rest nod

The peasant woman sobs as she recalls how her family was duped with a promise of help by the village headman, who said this was being offered under a government scheme for people like her in this rural north Indian district.

But instead of getting

TERVA, India - The small farm patches stand out like oases amidst the low, barren hills and rocky land that surround this hamlet in central India.

It was because of one of these fertile islands in the otherwise arid and harsh terrain, that Kuniya

In most cases officials fear that their own irregularities and collusion with powerful vested interests may be exposed by voluntary organisations and therefore adopt an aggressive attitude towards them.

IN RECENT years the interaction between the

Few NGOs in the country work under more hostile political conditions than does ABSSS in Manikpur block of Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. Yet in nearly two decades of work, this ActionAid supported NGO had had remarkable success in securing land

Former teacher stands up to land sharks and mindless govt. machinery

"I felt strongly about the Kols' plight," says Gopal. "I saw how their lands were being taken away by force and fraud by cunning non-tribals. I was also struck by the

It is by now widely recognised that forest based employment is of crucial importance in the livelihood of tribals. It is equally important that this employment should be based not on felling trees or on obtaining timber as this will lead to the

Social organisations are bringing about a radical change in the most exploited region of Patha, says Bharat Dogra

Patha region spreading over Mau and Manikpur blocks of Chitrakoot district and Shankargarh block of Allahabad district, and in a small