Reporters Without Orders Ep 297: Poverty in Ayodhya, BJP’s ‘communal’ ploy, tribal rights

This week, host Anmol Pritam is joined by Newslaundry’s Basant Kumar and The Mooknayak’s Satya Prakash Bharti and Ankit Pachauri.

Satya talks about his report on women collecting oil left over in lakhs of lamps lit in Ayodhya by the UP government on Diwali to “make a Guinness World Record”. He says at least over 30,000 litres of oil were left at the site, and many marginalised women were collecting it to use it for cooking.

Basant shares his experience of reporting from Chhattisgarh. He sheds light on the BJP’s purported communal experiment to make its way in the state. In Saja constituency, the party fielded a labourer who lost his son in a communal clash against a seven-time Congress MLA.

Meanwhile, Ankit delves into his report on Adivasis living in remote areas of Madhya Pradesh. He says incidents of malnutrition are rising among tribals as government schemes are not working on the ground. He also highlights the lack of other basic necessities such as water, road, and electricity in tribal villages.

Tune in.

Timecodes

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:03:08 - Diyas in Ayodhya

00:10:04 - Chattisgarh Politics

00:13:30 - Adivasis in MP

00:35:58 - Recommendations

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Produced and edited by Saif Ali Ekram, and recorded by Naresh Kumar.