The Press Institute Of India

Livelihood and the ecosystem

By: Sangeetha Rajeesh
Tamil Nadu

A weather-beaten display board just before the Pamban Bridge while proceeding towards Rameswaram gives a rough indication of what I was looking for, but Prabhakar tells me figures have changed. He was my guide and we travelled through fishing hamlets all along the Palk Bay coastline. Information on the board said that sea-weed cultivation that launched on Feb 1, 2006 for a project amount of Rs 67 lakhs would benefit 333 families and was sponsored by the State Bank of India, Ramanathapuram, Department of Bio-technology, Aquaculture Foundation of India, Ramnad District Development Agency and the TamilNadu Reconstruction Movement

‘We are struggling everyday’

By: Sarada Lahangir
Orissa

Twenty-eight year old Sabita Diggal and her husband of Gadaguda village would have been proud parents had not the violence in Orissa disturb their peace. “We had a good patch of land and we used to cultivate and getting good crop every year, but for last the last one year we are in this camp and we have lost our house and all our belongings due to violence,” she laments.

Woman’s Rights are Human Rights

By: Kalyan Singh Kothari
Rajasthan

A loud and fervent call for protection of land rights, properties and livelihood of women was given at a day-long convention ‘Mahila Udghosh’ (women’s proclamation) in Jaipur on April 25, 2009 and the participants demanded urgent steps to safeguard women’s access and control over resources and building up their capabilities to improve their self-esteem, security and dignity.

Rising above all odds

By: Sangeetha Rajeesh
Tamil Nadu

“If we both walk together on the road, everybody will turn and look at me because of the way I look,” Sumathi smiles, “At least now I am a tolerable sight, you should have seen me before the many plastic surgeries.”