In a village near Jammu, members of the nomadic Bakarwal tribe prepare to travel to the upper reaches of Kashmir along with their livestock. But not all of them will as many young people are breaking away from their nomadic past to look for better livelihoods elsewhere.

India reported 663 murders attributed to witch-hunts between 2015 and 2021. This comes to an average of 95 witch–hunt/witch-craft related deaths every year. Bihar was the first state to enact a law against this practice with a punishment of up to 6 months jail or Rs 2,000 fine! Still, women continue to be hunted down as witches. A ground report.

It’s not just in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia where there has been a spate in deaths amidst heatwave conditions in the past week. In the neighbouring Deoria district, 48 deaths were reported between June 17-June 18 when the temperature surged to 45 degrees Celsius. One of these deaths was that of a 30-year-old father of two kids who was returning to his house after meeting his wife at his in-law’s place. Gaon Connection explores the circumstances in which the young man died.

In a virtual seminar organised to address issues regarding laws that regulate land ownership in Maharashtra, speakers highlighted that the legal framework needs an overhaul. The speakers held that the existing laws are based on a colonial interpretation of the land rights and ignore the socio-economic realities of post-independence India.

Exactly two years back, on March 25, 2020, the nationwide lockdown came into force. Millions of migrant workers from rural India were stranded in cities without a place to stay, and with no food nor other means. Hundreds of thousands of them walked back home. Two years on, Gaon Connection caught up with these migrant workers and found their wounds haven't healed and their scars run deep.

Amongst the 41 workers who are trapped inside the tunnel in Uttarkashi is Akhilesh Singh, whose wife is pregnant with their first child. She is unaware of her husband being stuck for the past 12 days.

Nine months after violent clashes during a farmers' stir in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait organised a 75-hour long protest in the district and reasserted the demands of the cultivators. The main demands include sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni', withdrawal of legal cases registered against the farmers and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price. Details here.

Five months in a year, labourers from villages in Uttar Pradesh migrate to Kashmir where they work as daily wagers at brick kilns. Yesterday, one of them, Mukesh Kumar, was shot dead in Pulwama. Gaon Connection met his family.

Drug abuse is assuming frightening proportions in Hanumangarh district in Rajasthan and the worst hit are the rural youth, whose addiction is tearing apart families and sending crime in the villages and small towns skyrocketing. There are no significant drug-rehabilitation centres in the district to help the victims, complain activists. A ground report.