TODAY IS Eid, but not a single family in the village has the money to celebrate it. I never thought we would see such dark days,” says 45-year-old Jaygun Bibi from Belma village. This year is the first time Bibi broke her 15-hour fast during the month of Ramadan with water and maadbhat, a simple dish of soaked rice in salted water. “We usually consume dates to break the fast, followed by water and other delicacies,” she says.
Just a week earlier, Hindu residents of Belma felt equally dejected when they did not have the money to celebrate Charak Puja, their most important religious event. “The celebrations last for a week when the village turns into a fair. Our relatives from faraway villages attend it. This year, we could not even afford a single festive meal,” says Kalupad Mahato, 64-year-old resident of the village that is located some 300 km away from state capital Kolkata.
Similar stories were heard across seven villages of Purulia and neighbouring Bankura districts that Down To Earth (dte) travelled to in April. The residents’ ordeal began in December 2021 after the Centre decided to stop transferring funds to West Bengal under the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Later in June 2022, after six months of not paying wages, the Centre also stopped rolling out jobs under the scheme.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 01, 2023-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 01, 2023-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
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THE GREAT FARM HUSTLE
Agroforestry is fast emerging as a win-win strategy to mitigate climate change and improve farmers' income. It is particularly so in India, home to one-fifth of the agroforestry carbon projects in the world. Over the past months ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY has travelled to almost 20 villages across the country to understand how this market works. At all locations, she finds that communities and their land and labour are central to the projects. But they do not always benefit from the carbon revenue
CAN AGROFORESTRY CREDITS BE SAVED?
Ensure that farmers benefit from the carbon revenue and stay protected against market failure
Urban trap
Fearing loss of autonomy and access to government schemes, several villages across India are protesting against the decision to change their status to town
Dubious distinction
How Madhya Pradesh displaced Punjab as the country's leading state in stubble burning
TRADE TENSIONS
Why the benefits of agroforestry carbon trade do not trickle down to farmers
A fantastical lens
BIOPECULIARIS A LAUDABLE ATTEMPT TO CARVE A SPACE FOR SPECULATIVE CLIMATE FICTION WITHIN INDIAN LITERATURE. WHILE THE STORIES MAY NOT ALWAYS HIT THEIR MARK, THE ANTHOLOGY IS AN IMPORTANT STEP IN A GENRE THAT DESERVES MORE ATTENTION
Help on hold
US' decision to pause foreign aid could lead to hunger deaths, ruin economies of nations across Africa
Irrigation by snow
Declining rain and snowfall make farmers collect snow from higher altitudes to water their apple crops
Stem the rot
A fungal disease has hit the most widely sown sugarcane variety in Uttar Pradesh, threatening the country's sugar production
The mythos of ancient India's scientific excellence
Policymakers are obsessed by a fuddled idea of resurrecting a glorious civilisational past, and even IITs have fallen in line
