Many villages in this Himalayan state have had their fortunes turned around by all-woman Gram Panchayats  Esha Roy Members of the Pachisi all women’s panchayat pose for a picture. Esha Roy/The Migration Story KUMAON, Uttarakhand:  Manju Bora of Jinkhola, a village in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region, proudly bears a double distinction: not only is she the first female Pradhan (elected chief) of the village but also heads the first all-woman Gram Panchayat there. The feisty 38-year

As India grapples with weather extremes, the country must use an inclusive lens in its climate action plans and strategies to protect some of the most vulnerable groups from the impact of fickle weather, environmental scientist Dr. Rakesh Kumar tells The Migration Story Mansi Bhaktwani Picture credit: Prashant Nakwe Mumbai : The year 2024 was the hottest on record. The impact of the deadly heatwaves that swept through large swathes of India was mostly felt by the country’s po

Surat’s textile hub survives on the labour of tens of thousands of Odia migrant workers, mostly from Ganjam. They carry with them the caste structures that exist in their villages, with the most marginalised finding it difficult to find work, a room or even an entry into an ‘upper caste’ mess. Shreehari Paliath Workers resting in a mess-accommodation, locally referred as Panch Manzila in Surat’s Ved Road area. Pic credit: Shreehari Paliath Surat/Bengaluru:  Panch Manzila (fiv

For decades, tens of thousands of people from Ganjam in Odisha have flocked to Surat for work. But migration is not an option all can access, with caste playing a key role Aishwarya Mohanty K amallochan Sahoo (In yellow, extreme left) and Akshay Pradhan (In white, centre) along with other men at Kalamba village in Ganjam who found work in Surat  Aishwarya Mohanty/The Migration Story GANJAM, Odisha:  Kamallochan Sahoo (42) was just 18 when he first boarded a train to Surat alo

Street photographers have for decades captured memories for tourists visiting the India Gate, but the Central Vista project in New Delhi has pushed them to the margins Anuj Behal Anshul Rai Sharma  A street photographer at India Gate in New Delhi. Tanuj Yadav/The Migration Story New Delhi : Awadhesh Dixit, 40, known to most as Bunty, stood on the edge of Kartavya Path, his eyes scanning the sparse crowd, a camera slung over his shoulder. A few meters away, his colleagues pace

Breathing toxic air is not a seasonal but a daily reality for residents of a sprawling slum in a Mumbai suburb located next to a massive dumping yard, recycling units and a medical waste incinerator Hepzi Anthony Umar Shaikh, a social worker who runs a community health clinic for residents in Janta Nagar, poses for a picture outside the clinic in Mankhurd, Mumbai. Hepzi Anthony/The Migration Story MUMBAI, Maharashtra: As Mumbai’s deteriorating air quality grabs headlines in n

As the flooded river Sharda cuts aways into land and homes in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, farmers prepare to migrate for the first time in their lives Aishwarya Tripathi Dharmendra Rajpoot Sunil Yadav’s Nayapurwa village in Lakhimpur Kheri eroded by river Sharda during floods. Dharmendra Rajpoot/The Migration Story LAKHIMPUR KHERI, Uttar Pradesh:  Sunil Yadav looked nonplussed at the Sharda, the river near his village Nayapurwa in Uttar Pradesh, as if questioning its cal

Tamil and Kannada cinema have in recent years captured the journeys, challenges and joys of migration. What has led filmmakers to this subject? Subha J Rao A still from Kannada film Photo MANGALORE, Karnataka: Filmmaker Pa Ranjith’s ‘Thangalaan’  that dropped on Netflix in October shines a rare spotlight on a forgotten episode of Dalit history: of their relentless toiling in what would become the Kolar gold fields   for British masters, a period of slavery rife with sickness

To switch from   wood or wood scrap to alternate fuels to fire their ovens would increase production costs and impact the business of countless small bakeries in the city Mansi Bhaktwani Prashant Nakwe Warm, freshly baked pavs straight from a traditional wood-fired oven at a Mumbai bakery. MUMBAI, Maharashtra : The aroma of freshly baked bread and pav  fills the narrow, potholed lanes of Trombay, an eastern suburb of Mumbai, flanked by shops, eateries, and bakeries on either

Pachgaon village in Maharashtra has tapped its forest to start a bamboo business, create jobs and arrest migration. The village pays taxes and is also making a neat profit. Roli Srivastava The bamboo depot in Pachgaon village in Maharashtra. Roli Srivastava/The Migration Story PACHGAON, Maharashtra:  It’s a little past 10 am and the sound of axes clacking against wood envelop the forest in Pachgaon in central India as axe-wielding villagers work in a collective rhythm, cuttin

A sanatorium in Goa becomes a refuge for migrant workers recuperating from tuberculosis Menaka Rao Margao TB Hospital in Goa. Menaka Rao/The Migration Story GOA : For over a year, Tushar*, a migrant worker from Odisha, has been an inmate at the TB (tuberculosis) Hospital at Monte Hill in Margao, Goa. In March last year, a barely conscious Tushar was picked up from a train by the Goa police and taken to the Goa Medical College where he was diagnosed with TB.  “He had TB of the

Not all migrants travel back home to celebrate the biggest festival of Bihar - Chhath. Countless celebrations dot major cities like Delhi where lakhs of migrants congregate to worship the rising and the setting sun Anuja FIle image of Chhath celebrations in Delhi. Picture courtesy: Praveen Jain/ThePrint NEW DELHI:  On a warm October morning, Ram Kishor Sah and Ghanshyam Jha sat by the roadside on plastic chairs at a busy, noisy intersection in East Delhi’s Geeta Colony, and d

The Migration Bulletin is a monthly round-up that captures issues related to migration that have been reported on various media platforms. In its fourth edition, we look at migrants becoming a terrorist target in Kashmir yet again and the top court’s warning to states to issue ration cards to their migrant workforce among other stories Two migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh were shot and injured by terrorists in Budgam, Central Kashmir, on Friday, Nov. 2. The migrants were id

For migrant workers hopping onto long-distance trains, it is the consolation of being home that spurs them to overlook the challenges of journeys made with limited means, particularly access to clean and affordable drinking water Ishita Dey Neetu Singh A resident of Bihar, migrant worker Vikas refills his plastic container at the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Station in Uttar Pradesh. Neetu Singh/The Migration Story On board Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express: Ashwini Kum

Repeated floods in north Bihar have fuelled migration of men, and displaced their families repeatedly as swelling rivers swallow land Nidhi Jamwal  Work underway to strengthen a breached embankment of Gandak river on October 2, 2024, in West Champaran district. Nidhi Jamwal/The Migration Story WEST CHAMPARAN, Bihar:  Smoke from a makeshift firewood chulha  pervaded the air as a young woman cooked rice for her family. A six-year-old boy stuffed his mouth with chivda  (flattene

Nagarik Sahayta Kendras, a collaboration between civil society organisations and the government, were launched to help villagers get jobs under MGNREGA and access dues. Today, they have expanded beyond their brief to play an invaluable role in rural Jharkhand Esha Roy Shivlal Oraon at  his mango orchard, planted under a government horticulture scheme, in Janho village in Jharkhand. Esha Roy/The Migration Story. LATEHAR, Jharkhand: Surrounded by undulating hills in a corner of

Hundreds of people migrate from rural West Bengal to Kolkata to meet the spike in demand for labour during its biggest celebration of the year: Durga Puja. Away from their families, they are integral to the festivities - from pandal decoration to making idols and transporting them Tanmoy Bhaduri Migrant porters carry idols from workshops to puja pandals in North Kolkata. KOLKATA, West Bengal : During Durga Puja, Kolkata bursts into festivity and joy. Elaborate pandals  are se

In the streets and warehouses of Asia’s largest slum, migrant workers who make up for a large part of the slum’s population, reflect on the ambitious rehabilitation plan and what it means to them even as officials say they want to “accommodate everybody” Aarefa Johari File image of Dharavi. Pic credit: Prashant Nakwe MUMBAI, Maharashtra:  When Raeesa Shaikh first moved to Dharavi with her husband and three children, she thought she had landed in a kind of hell. The only world

Sharp increases in mobile tariffs are straining the budgets of migrant workers in cities like Bengaluru, making it harder for them to stay connected and entertained Amoolya Rajappa Ningreingam takes a moment during work to watch WhatsApp videos of corn harvesting sent by his family in Manipur. Amoolya Rajappa/The Migration Story BENGALURU, Karnataka: Sitting leisurely at a salon in the upscale Koramangala neighbourhood of Bengaluru, hair stylist Ningreingam Shokchui wistfully

India gives tribal villages rights over forest land and its produce but the laws have been poorly implemented. A union of villages in Maharashtra is now using them to guard their green cover and monetise the produce, which has arrested migration from villages Roli Srivastava Amita Madavi stands in the forest that her village is trying to protect from a mining project in Zendepar, Maharashtra. Roli Srivastava/The Migration Story ZENDEPAR, Maharashtra:  Amita Madavi, 38, doesn’