B83 Human Rights

Citizens for Peace - stories of the weaving community of Purvanchal, who have been hit by the twin blow of coronavirus lockdown and administrative apathy.

For a few decades now, the ‘Banarasi’ weaving industry has seen the almost deliberate marginalisation of handloom workers with burgeoning powerlooms virtually taking over. Post 2014, these manipulations took a sharper turn bringing the home business to a virtual shut down, especially in wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. While some of them sold off their ancestral jewellery, many others were forced to sell their looms to scrap dealers, just so they could put food on the table! - https://cjp.org.in/how-purvanchals-traditional-weaving-industry-came-undone/

How this weaver was forced to run a tea shop : https://youtu.be/S4bVzCREw6I

Lockdown Impact: Crushing debt, mounting bills https://cjp.org.in/how-this-weaver-was-forced-to-run-a-tea-shop/

 His biggest concern though is paying his electricity bill. “Whether or not I have enough work to put both my powerlooms to use, I have to pay electricity charges,” says Shahjehan.

Lockdown Impact: Crushing debt, mounting bills: https://cjp.org.in/crushing-debt-mounting-bills-a-weavers-lament/ The spectre of business failure looming large, Shahjehan’s last resort is bleak for a resident of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s former constituency. “If no more work comes, we will be forced to take up ‘mazdoori’ (daily-wage manual labour),” says Shahjehan resigned to his fate.

The unending plight of migrant workers in Bengal..CJP Grassroots Fellowship: Ripon Sheikh, a CJP fellow, travels around Birbhum, West Bengal to document the condition of those migrant workers and their families, who have lost their sources of income amid lockdown, and forced to work on others' fields, earning way less than they used to.

CJP Fact Finding: Award winning author now sells fish for a living Rajesh Sahni, ex supervisor in the fisheries department of BHU, has been out of work since the Modi Government shut the department down. He has written four books, one of which is taught in agriculture classes. He is also a recipient of the President's award during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime and the 'Sarjana Award' during the Mayawati regime.
He now sells fish for a living in Varanasi.