Bhukhal Ghasi, a 50-year-old laborer from Bokaro district in Jharkhand, had a family of seven to support. Amidst existing poverty and food scarcity, he struggled to find work. The situation worsened when he died of hunger in March 2020. Tragically, Bhukhal’s family faced another loss just a few months later. Jharkhand is the lowest-performing state in India’s ‘Zero Hunger Goal’ of SDGs, accounting for 33 of the 99 starvation deaths between 2015 and 2020. The state’s negligence left Bhukhal waiting for months to receive a ration card.

Gujarat stands as India’s foremost salt-producing state, contributing 85% to the nation's total salt output. Within Gujarat, 31% of this production originates from the Agariya community living within the Little Rann of Kutch. Despite being the primary contributors to the salt industry, the Agariya people find themselves receiving the smallest share of profits. Furthermore, they grapple with the adverse effects of climate change, directly impacting their livelihoods. In this narrative, Bhopa and Gunand, two Agariya salt farmers, shed light on the disparity in earnings within the salt farming sector.

Umar Khalid, who once dreamed of playing cricket for India, now faces serious terrorism charges from the government. The vilification spurred by media trials reached its peak with a chilling assassination attempt. He's been in prison for 3.5 years as of March 2024, highlighting a worrying crackdown on dissent in India. This is his story, as told by his loved ones.

The video delves into the lives of Delhi's slum dwellers, whose homes perpetually face the threat of demolition. In a recent case, on May 19, 2023, residents of Priyanka Gandhi Camp in Vasant Vihar, Delhi, received official notices from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to vacate the land by June 15, 2023. Despite legal battles fought by the PG camp residents, their ‘Jhuggis’ (slums) were ultimately demolished. Between April 1 and July 27, 2023, Delhi witnessed 49 demolition drives. In 2023, at least 1600 homes have been destroyed and about 2,50,000 are homeless in India’s Capital. This story is about the plight of those who become homeless overnight.

Bhupat Bhai Sekhaliya, a diligent and hardworking rickshaw driver from Gujarat, belongs to the Dalit community. Despite his unwavering dedication, the respect he deserves eludes him, particularly from individuals of "upper" castes in his vicinity. Many daily activities, deemed "normal" for any resident, remain inaccessible to him. Defiance can lead to physical assault. However, Bhupat's story is not an isolated incident. In Gujarat, the spectre of violence against Dalits looms large, with an average of four cases reported daily. The past seven years have seen a staggering total of over 9,000 documented instances of such violence.

Arjun Sahariya, a member of Madhya Pradesh’s Sahariya tribal group, courageously opens up about the atrocities inflicted upon his family. His situation is a representation of the increasing number of atrocities against tribal groups in the central Indian state which boasts the highest population of tribal communities.

Chhannu Markam lost his wife and four children. He claims that the deaths were a result of health complications arising from a polluted red-water river. He lives in Loha Village in Chhattisgarh, a state heavily reliant on its revenue from iron ore mines.

Rashmi Singh and Sadaf Khan, like many women in Madhya Pradesh state, aspire to participate in public life by running for elections. They have joined the ongoing movement advocating for equal representation of women in Indian politics. Presently, women hold less than 15% of seats in the country's parliament and most state Assemblies.

Gurwinder Singh is a Dalit Sikh. His family has a history of working as bonded labourers, known as "Seeris," for landowning farmers in Bauran Kala village in the Sikh-majority Punjab state. His father, now 65 years old, is still working as a "dung-rubbish picker," a job predominantly done by Dalit Sikhs, who are landless and impoverished.

Jhabe Ram bursts into tears as he narrates how a landslide swept away his family's house in Himachal Pradesh state, killing eight members of their joint family, including his wife and two children as well as his brother and his entire family. This northern state in the Himalayas is no stranger to natural calamities. 

Adarsh Kumar, a self-motivated, bright student from Bihar, aspires to pull his family out of poverty. However, he has little more than his resolve to take him closer to his dream, by serving in the Indian Army. To pass every stage of recruitment, and there are many, can his determination compensate for…

Neelam Devi, from India's Bihar state, and her family were once unable to afford basic necessities such as oil for cooking, clothing, and even soap for personal hygiene. This dire situation forced her husband to leave and work as a labourer in Delhi, hundreds of kilometres away. Though they are now able to afford food, her two daughters still had to drop out of school.

Chandeshwar Manjhi, a teacher in Bihar, is working to empower the Musahar community, a marginalized group of roughly 2.2 million people who are among the most oppressed in the state. With a low literacy rate and a history of poverty and discrimination, Musahars are the lowest of the low in India?s caste hierarchy.

Tenzin Lekshay is one of the 30,000 Tibetan refugees living in Mcleodganj town in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. His family fled to India with the Dalai Lama, along with 80,000 other Tibetans, after a failed uprising in 1959. In his conversation with the host Harshita Rathore

Harsimranjit Singh spent much of his youth looking after his father, who had cancer. Fazilka, where he lives, is one of the 11 districts that comprise Punjab state's "cancer belt," the Malwa region. In the nearby Ferozepur district, Kuldeep Singh had to quit farming as his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

A young Rohingya man, Ali Johar, fled persecution in Myanmar?s Rakhine state and later made his way to India, as he had heard that Indian people and their government were kind-hearted. Did he, and his fellow refugees, experience that kindness?

Radheshyam Shukhlawas, a farmer-turned-activist, lives in Rajasthan state?s Shukhlawas village in Kotputli district. People in his village and surrounding areas are dying one after another, as unregulated mines are causing particle pollution leading to lung diseases like silicosis…

Jaihind, Ramesh and Baburam live in Uttar Pradesh state, which reported 12,714 cases of atrocities against #dalits in 2020, the highest in India, as per the government data. The three men, from the state’s Mahoba district, tell us what discrimination and violence look like despite legal protections they have had, on paper, for decades.

Few kilometres from the India-Pakistan border, people in Barmer district of the western state of Rajasthan face extreme water shortage. In scorching heat, women in this desert area spend several hours fetching water from the nearest wells. On an average, they walk about 2.5 kms to reach a water source and make many rounds each day.

Police in Uttar Pradesh state arrest, on average, more than 300,000 residents each year, out of which tens of thousands end up in judicial #custody as accused. On paper, the State assumes responsibility for a person that it takes into custody, but, in reality, police and jail authorities blatantly rob detainees…