-The Indian Express In 2015, the BJP government of Chhattisgarh, represented by health minister Ajay Chandrakar, signed an MoU with PHFI to upgrade specialist doctors in Naxal-hit Bastar. SINCE last week, the top public health NGO Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) has been in the crosshairs of the NDA government, barred from accepting foreign funds. But not very long ago, it was the preferred partner of not just the UPA...
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SC spotlight on Chhattisgarh rights abuses
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed concern over growing human rights violations in Chhattisgarh, a Maoist hotbed, with the Centre and rights activists blaming each other for the state's volatile atmosphere. Journalists, lawyers and civil rights activists have reported being targeted and hounded out of Bastar district after being branded Maoist sympathisers. Tribal activist Soni Sori, who had protested against an alleged fake encounter, had her face burnt with...
More »‘Irregularities and delay in payment’ -Pavan Dahat
-The Hindu Sukma: He completed the work allotted to him under MGNREGA last year, but Boteram Yadav from Sonakukanar village is still waiting for his pay. “I was assured Rs. 157 per day for helping construct a road, but I haven’t been paid yet,” he said. “But I want to work under MGNREGA again. Some villagers received their wages within a few months of working.” Sonadhar, another villager, is one such...
More »Mass exodus: 100,000 villagers migrate from Chhatisgarh in 3 years
-IANS RAIPUR: There's a deathly silence in many villages across Chhattisgarh these days. The houses are locked as entire families have left for greener pastures for want of work, despite Central government's rural job scheme and availability of rice at Rs1 per kg. "We (55 labourers and 15 children) are leaving for Faizabad (in Uttar Pradesh) where we will make bricks. The payment is Rs 400 for 1,000 bricks. Two labourers...
More »Low voter turnout in Bastar a cause of concern
-The Hindustan Times It is tough to hold elections in the Maoist-hit areas, also known as the Red Corridor, which include parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In these areas, holding free and fair elections is just one part of the challenge; the bigger challenge lies in getting ballot boxes, polling officials and security men safely out of the Maoist strongholds once the...
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