poverty
Birhor Society Still Imperiled
The socio-economic conditions of the Birhor have been back in the news in India last week, with three different articles published relating to their food security, demographic conditions, and lack of forest environment, all of which may affect their survival. The first report, published at the beginning of the week, discussed the death of 55 […]
Yanadi Colony Troubles Former Film Star
Indian film superstar Chiranjeevi championed a Yanadi woman, Tupakula Munemma, over two years ago when he founded his Praja Rajyam party and ran, unsuccessfully, for Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He invited her to run for the state legislative assembly in his party, which she did. Last week, Chiranjeevi, the film star turned politician—he was […]
Birhor Live in Poverty
The Birhor in West Bengal state experience even more poverty than the ones in Jharakhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh, the other states of northeastern India where they live. According to a report issued last week, the poverty of the Birhor in West Bengal persists despite the efforts of the state government to launch programs which could […]
Difficulties of Life in a Semai Village
AFP, the international news agency based in France, posted a story on Sunday about the poverty in a Semai village of 300 people in central Malaysia. The AFP journalist was shocked by the conditions in the village, Bertang Lama—a “pitiful scene of hungry children and desperate parents.” Kampung Bertang Lama is near Cheroh, a small […]
Yanadi Poverty in Andhra Pradesh Blamed on Official Negligence
At a public meeting last Wednesday in the Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh, state legislators alleged that the Yanadi suffer from abject poverty due, in part, to the negligence of government officials. Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), the lower house of the state legislature, and members of the Legislative Council, the upper house, criticized […]
Inuit Life on the Land: Photographic Exhibition
Photographs of starving Inuit people, taken during an Arctic famine in 1950, are among the highlights of an exhibition that is currently being shown at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Richard Harrington, a Canadian commercial photographer and photojournalist, made six trips to the Arctic between 1948 and 1953, but it was his 1950 visit, when he […]
Human Rights Report Analyzes Birhor Deaths
Despite reports that Chhotan, a Birhor laborer, was receiving excellent care at a medical center in Ranchi, the capital of India’s Jharkhand state, the man died of his illness. The continuing deaths in the Birhor villages are prompting officials of non-governmental organizations into making renewed commitments to assist the tribal people. Ashutosh Mairh, a member […]
Assistance for the Birhor in Jharkhand State
One of the districts of India’s Jharkhand State is making an attempt to provide substantial assistance for the health and welfare of the impoverished Birhor people. Local officials in the Bokaro District of the state, called Block Development Officers (BDOs), are being charged with the responsibility for making certain that the Birhor are safe and […]
October Birhor Tragedy Still Disturbs India
The strange, tragic deaths of numerous Birhor villagers in Jharkhand State on October 2 continue to reverberate in India, particularly since other so-called tribal peoples have also been dying of mysterious causes. Eight people died due to unknown circumstances within a few hours of one another that evening in the village of Hindiakala, and evidently […]
Birhor Roots and Leaves
An ANI reporter visited a Birhor village last week and talked with some of the people to get their perspectives on the tragedy of a few weeks earlier when eight people died suddenly. The reporter was surprised that, in this day and age, people actually went out and foraged “by eating roots and leaves from […]
