-The New Indian Express Women in Chinnaparakudy tribal settlement find a source of livelihood, reports  Nejma Sulaiman IDUKKI: Many tribal hamlets in Idukki still follow the primitive practice of secluding menstruating girls and women for up to a week in special huts called ‘valaimapura’. At the Chinnaparakudy settlement in Adimaly panchayat, however, the ‘menstrual hut’ has been converted into a hub of creativity, one that offers a livelihood for women.  Earlier, like in...

-Press release by the Right to Food Campaign Secretariat dated February 23, 2022 * 66 percent respondents said that their income has decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period * 80 percent reported some form of food insecurity, 25 percent reported severe food insecurity * 41 percent said that nutritional quality of their diet deteriorated compared to the pre-pandemic period * 67 percent could not afford cooking gas in the month preceding the survey. * 45...

-The Hindu Govt. cheating tribal communities, says Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch A tribal rights advocacy group has rued that budgetary cuts on food subsidy and MNREGA will hurt tribal communities the worst. "Tribal communities have the highest numbers of those malnourished, particularly children and women. Cuts in food subsidies will be disastrous and lead to direct intensification of hunger," said Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) in a press statement. They also say that tribal...

-The Hindu The sustained campaign helps 43% reach the ‘normal’ mark Following the adoption of a bottom-up approach to strengthening child protection systems, 43% of malnourished children in one of the 11 blocks in tribal-dominated Banswara district in southern Rajasthan have hit the normal mark. The initiative has sought to protect the most vulnerable ones among the undernourished children and safeguarded them against a possible third wave of the pandemic. The drive for...

-Down to Earth Srikumar Khadi’s claim to his land in Odisha’s Sundergarh district is over a century old; but it still awaits recognition Srikumar Khadi’s great-grandparents moved to Bhuin-Jor from Dhamakpur in Odisha’s Sundergarh district around 100 years ago. They were offered a small piece of land in the forest by Bhuin-Jor’s inhabitants. They settled in the forest with the passage of time and started using the land as a homestead. They also...