Unpredictable weather, debt pressure, and a silent maternal health crisis in MP’s tribal belt

Is the cold wave, unseasonal rain-hailstorms, and microfinance pressure in Shivpuri-Sheopur a new disaster for pregnant tribal women?Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: Samma Aadivasi (30), six months pregnant, sits on the terrace (otli) of her mud house in Kalotra village of Shivpuri district, her hand resting on her stomach as she sifts through the cold ashes of a stove. Outside, unseasonal rain and hailstorms on March 3-4 have flattened the remaining Rabi crop.Inside, agents from microfinance companies come to her door every two to three days for debt installments.“All night I stayed awake in the cold, holding my stomach afraid something might happen to my child,” Aadivasi told 101Reporters, recalling this January when severe frost hit. “We thought the wheat and mustard harvest would bring some money. Now the crop is gone, and the debt collectors are not letting us live.”Across Shivpuri and Sheopur, tribal women, especially from the Sahariya community, are facing a convergence of erratic weather, crop loss, and mounting debt, creating a high-risk environment for pregnancy and childbirth.Aadivasi’s situation is not isolated. Her neighbours, Ramo (30) and Sushila (27), describe similar conditions.“There is no work left in the fields,” said Sushila. “When there isn’t a single rupee in hand, for pregnant women, even getting two meals a day becomes difficult.” With crops damaged, agricultural labour opportunities have declined sharply, affecting both income and access to food.The vulnerability is reflected in data. More than 62 percent of Sahariya tribal families live in mud houses without permanent walls, exposing them to cold winds during winter. The literacy rate in the community is 23.2 percent. Among pregnant women, 90.1 percent are anaemic, and 59.1 percent of children are underweight.Ramo said she remains fearful. “My previous child was born prematurely at eight months and died after two months. I am in my sixth month now. I feel scared again.”According to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ annual report (2023–24), the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) among Scheduled Tribes is 41.6 per 1,000 live births, and the Under-5 Mortality Rate is 50.3. The Registrar General of India (SRS 2022) reports Madhya Pradesh’s IMR at 40, the highest in the country.A new disaster affecting pregnant tribal women (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)AccessTo address maternal and child health, the state has implemented schemes such as Anemia Mukt Bharat, Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres, and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram. The MP Economic Survey 2025-26 notes 62 Special Newborn Care Units and 65 Pediatric Intensive Care Units in operation.In April 2025, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav launched ANMOL 2.0 and the Matru Shishu Sanjeevan Mission for digital tracking of pregnancies.NHM Madhya Pradesh Mission Director Dr Saloni Sidana said, “Systematic use of the Anmol app will ensure 100 percent registration and better monitoring of high-risk pregnancies.”District officials echo similar claims. Sheopur CMHO Dr Dilip Singh Sikarwar said, “We go door-to-door to register pregnant women and provide medicines.”However, in settlements without smartphones or reliable internet, such digital systems have limited reach.When asked about high anaemia rates, Sikarwar attributed it to lack of awareness among tribal women, saying they avoid supplements due to beliefs.Among pregnant women, 90.1 percent are anaemic (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Double blowWhat has unfolded in the region is not a single event, but a sequence of weather shocks. November 2025 recorded the coldest temperatures in 84 years in Bhopal and Shivpuri. In January 2026, temperatures in Shivpuri and Sheopur dropped to around 4°C.Between February 29 and March 4, a Western Disturbance brought heavy rain and hailstorms across more than 20 districts. Hailstones measuring 6-7 mm flattened standing mustard crops in the Gwalior-Chambal division, according to Agriwatch.Further rain and hailstorms between March 18-20 and again in early April damaged both standing and harvested crops. In many fields, harvested produce remains waterlogged and is now rotting under subsequent heat. Palua Aadivasi (60), a farmer from Bhesora village, said, “When it was supposed to be cold, frost came. When the crop was ready, hail fell. Nothing is in our favour.”Hailstorms having a severe impact on agriculture (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Loan repayment deadlines for zero-interest cooperative loans ended on March 29, 2026, without extension despite crop losses. Farmers recall that such deadlines were extended in previous years following natural disasters.For landless Sahariya families, pressure from microfinance institutions (MFIs) is more immediate.According to an AIDWA report, over 60 percent of women have taken loans at interest rates between 22-26 percent, and nearly 30 percent report coercive recovery practices.MFIs typically lend to groups of 20-25 women, starting with Rs 10,000-30,000 loans that increase with timely repayment.Samma Bai had earlier taken a Rs 20,000 loan and repaid it. She later borrowed Rs 60,000, of which three recent instalments remain unpaid.Her husband, Sahabsingh (32), said, “Every other day, recovery agents come to the house. Sometimes they use abusive language. We have no option but to listen.”With no income, families are forced into distress measures. Some have mortgaged ration cards for Rs 1,000-2,000. Others sell subsidised grain to meet immediate needs.ASHA workers are often the first point of contact in these conditions, but they face constraints themselves.On March 9, 2026, ASHA and USHA workers protested in Bhopal demanding higher honorariums and employee status.In Kalotra, ASHA worker Narayani Aadivasi (50) said, “During the cold, we found many pregnant women with dangerously high blood pressure due to stress and exposure.”Temperature changes put dangerous pressure on the body of pregnant women (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Placental dysfunctionThis irregular cold wave is not merely a matter of common cold. Medical science calls it Placental Dysfunction. Gynecologist Dr. Seema Joshi of Dr. Kailashnath Katju Government Hospital in Bhopal explained: "The difference of up to 21 degrees Celsius between day and night temperatures puts dangerous pressure on the body of pregnant women, causing constriction in blood vessels."A Japanese study found that when a pregnant woman is exposed to extreme cold, the pulsatility index of the uterine artery increases from 1.14 to 1.52. Dr Kavita N Singh, Dean of Gandhi Medical College and gynecology expert, elaborated: "The body constricts blood vessels (vasoconstriction) to maintain temperature, severely obstructing blood and oxygen flow to the fetus."She added: "The physical stress of cold and the mental stress of debt collectors together greatly increase cortisol levels in the woman's body." Research published in the Journal of Physiology (2024) confirms that approximately 80 percent of term stillbirths occur due to placental dysfunction and elevated maternal cortisol. A 2023 study in the Chinese Medical Journal found the risk of stillbirth increases up to 4.63 times in women exposed to extremely low temperatures. Research published on PubMed Central further shows that extreme weather exposure increases stillbirth risk by 36 to 83 percent.Policy vacuumDespite this horrific ground and scientific reality, state administration policies appear limited to paper. The Madhya Pradesh government created the "State Action Plan on Climate Change and Human Health (SAPCCHH 2022-27)" under the Government of India's National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health. Its stated objective: reduce climate-related diseases, make health services climate-resilient, and protect vulnerable sections including women, children, and tribal communities.The plan's own document admits high disease burden — waterborne diseases like diarrhea, typhoid, hepatitis; vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, chikungunya; respiratory and non-communicable diseases. At drafting time, IMR was 48 per 1000 live births and neonatal mortality was 35. The state had 10,189 sub-health centers, 1,199 PHCs, and 330 CHCs, high disease burden, limited infrastructure.The budget tells its own story. The plan allocates only Rs 397.06 lakh for 2022-23 and Rs 420.1 lakh for 2023-24. In a state with more than 2,000 PHCs, an energy audit is proposed for only 10. Training is also minimal — 3 days for doctors, 2 days for health workers. Most critically, there is no separate strategy for the interconnected crises of the PVTG population, irregular cold, pregnant women's health, and debt pressure.Dr RK Badve identifies a core flaw: "We are viewing climate only in relation to heat, whereas cold and rapid fluctuations in temperature are equally dangerous for pregnant women. There is no clear medical protocol for this in the policy. a major shortcoming."The 2024 report by the Council of Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) warns that more than 2 lakh health facilities in India are at risk from extreme weather, and that risks must be assessed at the district level.Environmental activist Rashid Noor Khan said, "The plan has sentinel hospitals, surveillance systems, AQI monitoring, and awareness campaigns. But these are mostly limited to monitoring and reporting. In villages and tribal areas, this is not transforming into a system that directly saves lives."CMHO Dr Sikarwar, when questioned about policy failure, again defaults to migration and tribal beliefs as explanations.Samma Bai does not know about SAPCCHH 2022-27, the Anmol app, or the SNCU units. She knows only that her crop is gone, the debt collector will return tomorrow, and she is seven months pregnant in a mud house where the cold still finds its way through the walls.This story was produced as a part of 101Reporters Climate Change Reporting Grant. Cover photo - Sahariya community is facing a convergence of erratic weather, crop loss, and mounting debt, creating a high-risk environment for pregnancy and childbirth (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)

Tears in the harvest: How MP’s ‘farmer welfare year’ became a season of ruin

How the triple crisis of weather, gunny bags, and debt turned a government slogan into a distress sale.Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: April in Madhya Pradesh is supposed to be the farmer's month in Madhya Pradesh. The trails are loud with tractors, golden wheat fills the fields, and for a brief window, a year of hard work feels like it is about to pay off. Weddings are planned. Loans are meant to be repaid. For once, the math is supposed to work.This year, it did not.The Madhya Pradesh government declared 2026 the "Farmer Welfare Year",  with ceremonies, speeches, and considerable fanfare. But step outside Bhopal and that slogan dissolves quickly. What replaces it is the sound of grown men speaking with choked throats, crops rotting in flooded fields, and fires burning a year's work to ash.Three crises converged at once: unseasonal weather that flattened crops across 41 districts, a gunny bag shortage triggered by the conflict in West Asia that delayed government wheat procurement by weeks, and a loan repayment deadline that fell before farmers had a rupee in hand. Together, they have pushed the farmers of Madhya Pradesh toward distress, default, and open revolt.No bags, no procurement, no time (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)The sky turned against themKuber Rajput, 32, stands in his 10-acre field in Khajuri Kalan village, 30 kilometers from Bhopal, and cannot hold back tears. His wheat crop is spread out before him which has been waterlogged and damaged to such an extent that it is unsellable.  "In late February and early March, unusual heat ripened the crop too early. We did extra irrigation to try to save it. Then the rains came and washed away everything we'd done. Now all we can do is pray."The science backs him up. Dr Anand Harshana, Senior Scientist at the Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa Kendra in Indore, said that temperatures hit 38.5 degrees in the first fortnight of March,  forcing premature ripening of wheat ears. Then, at the end of March, a Western Disturbance combined with moisture rising from the Bay of Bengal to sweep through 41 districts of the state. Strong storms and hailstorms on March 30 completely flattened standing crops across Mandsaur and Ujjain.Dr KP Asati, Senior Scientist at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dhar, explains what happens to wheat in these conditions: "When grain is in the ripening stage and heavy rain hits with strong winds, the plant lodges it falls to the ground. The flow of carbohydrates to the grain stops. The grain shrivels." In government procurement language, warehouse operator Rahul Dhoot said, this is called Luster Loss, and it means the wheat gets rejected at procurement centers on grounds of high moisture.Ganpat Dodia, 36, and Rajendra Ravi Chauhan, 42, both from the same village as Kuber, lost gram and wheat across 22 and 14 acres respectively. Rajendra's frustration carries a pointed edge: "If we had received weather warnings in time, the loss could have been reduced."In Rafiqganj village, Sehore district, Avadh Narayan sowed the premium Sharbati wheat variety across 20 acres. His voice is hollow. "By this time last year the money was in my account. This time my crop is lying cut and soaked, and the government hasn't even started procurement."His neighbour Naresh Parmar hasn't slept properly in weeks. "It's been a month since the harvest. Every night I stay awake in the field, one spark and everything is gone."Naresh's fear proved well-founded, just not for him personally. On April 1, in Raisen district, fire consumed 50 acres belonging to 11 farmers. Twenty-five tractors were deployed to help. The fire engine ran out of water. The crop was gone. Similar fires have been reported in Betul, Narmadapuram, Dewas, Satna, and Khargone.In Harda, farmer Mahendra Kumar, 35, survived the weather only to face a different wall. "Somehow I harvested the wheat. But now I'm begging for fertilizer. Urea worth Rs 280 is being sold in the black market for Rs 1,200. Should we farm, or finish ourselves?"A harvest that should have brought relief now lies unsellable, after heat and rain erased a year’s worth of effort (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Convenient delayEven farmers whose wheat survived the weather are trapped, this time by a shortage of the bags needed to sell it.The government has fixed the wheat Minimum Support Price at Rs 2,625 per quintal this year, including bonus. Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, and Narmadapuram divisions began procurement from April 10, while all other divisions from April 15, but due to loan repayments, fear of unseasonal rain and hailstorms, and preparation for the next crop, most farmers in the state had already sold their produce before MSP procurement even began. Last year, procurement began on March 15.The official explanation: an ongoing war in the West Asia. With Iran having closed the Strait of Hormuz, India's crude oil imports have been disrupted. The polypropylene (PP) and high-density polypropylene (HDPP) bags used to fill wheat at procurement centres are petroleum derivatives. Reduced crude supply choked domestic bag production, and Madhya Pradesh found itself short.An emergency high-level meeting was convened in Bhopal, chaired by Food Minister Govind Singh Rajput. The numbers presented were stark: over 19 lakh farmers have registered to sell wheat. The government needs to procure roughly 78 lakh metric tons. Bags are currently available for only 35 lakh tons — less than half the requirement. The Jute Commissioner subsequently allocated 50,000 additional bales of jute bags to the state.Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav held a separate review meeting and instructed that small farmers be prioritised first. Food Minister Rajput assured that bag supplies would be secured before procurement opened. "Tenders have been issued. Jute bags from the Centre have started arriving," he said.On the ground, none of this has helped yet. With government procurement unavailable, traders have moved in. Farmers are selling wheat in open mandis for Rs 2,150 to Rs 2,400 per quintal — Rs 225 to Rs 475 below MSP. Many report additional deductions of Rs 400 to ₹700 per quintal in the name of moisture and quality.Dashrath Singh Bharti drove 29 kilometres from his village Bagonia to Bhopal's Karond Mandi with 55–65 quintals of wheat. His son's wedding is on April 15."The government scales open on the 10th. By the time the money reaches my bank account, it will be May. The wedding cards are already out. I sold my Lokwan wheat for Rs 2,150 — a direct loss of Rs 475 per quintal. But what could I do? It was my son's wedding and my honour."The bag shortage story also has an inconvenient subplot. Wheat bags were found stockpiled in the private warehouse of Berasia MLA Vishnu Khatri. The administration blacklisted the warehouse. The question this raises is one farmers across the state are asking loudly: if bags are unavailable, how are they sitting in a ruling party MLA's godown?Shivkumar Sharma, known as "Kakkaji," President of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, is blunt: "This is match-fixing. The government does not have bags, but bags are available in the MLA's warehouse and with private traders. This is a deliberate conspiracy to let traders loot farmers."Even the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh — ideologically aligned with the ruling BJP — is not buying the official line. Lakshmi Narayan Patel, BKS President for Malwa Prant, puts it plainly: "The war just started. Why didn't the government arrange bags beforehand? This is causing double loss to the farmers."A shortage of gunny bags has stalled procurement, leaving farmers with produce but no way to sell it on time (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)The loan trapWhile weather and procurement delay alone would be enough to break most farmers, a third blow has landed — this one entirely of the government's own making.Approximately 80 percent of farmers in Madhya Pradesh borrow for the crop season through Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS) at zero percent interest. The deadline to repay these loans was March 28, 2026 — nearly three weeks before procurement was even scheduled to begin.The arithmetic is brutal, and Akhilesh Meena of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh states it simply: "When the government won't buy wheat until April 10-April 15, where does the farmer get money to repay the loan by March 28?"These are not small amounts. From April 2024 to January 2025, Rs 18,392 crore was disbursed under this scheme across the state. Loans are sanctioned up to Rs 35,300 per acre, with 75 percent in cash and 25 percent adjusted against fertilizer and seeds.Anand Singh drove 32 kilometres from his village Pathan to Karond Mandi with 65 quintals of wheat. Traders bought his Lokwan wheat at Rs 2,200, below MSP, citing high moisture. He did not have the luxury of waiting for a better price."I had to repay the loan. If I became a defaulter, I wouldn't get zero percent loans in future, and I wouldn't receive fertilizer and seeds at government rates for the next crop either."PACS Manager Rakesh Verma confirms the mechanics: miss the deadline and a penalty is levied. Default long enough and the farmer is categorised as a defaulter, losing the zero-percent benefit entirely. Lakshmi Narayan Patel of BKS spells out the cascade: "The moment you default, the zero percent facility ends. The outstanding amount is then recovered at 7 percent normal interest plus 14 percent penal interest."Farmer organisations allege that due to the government's failure to extend the repayment date, 60 percent of the state's farmers became defaulters overnight.The reckoning coming in MayThe Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers' body aligned with the RSS and, by extension, the ruling BJP,  has now turned formally against the state government. Memorandums have been submitted at tehsil and district levels across the state. An ultimatum has been issued: meet the demands by May 15 or face statewide agitation.The 10-point demand list includes: full loan waiver, higher MSP, withdrawal of stubble-burning cases, and immediate compensation for hailstorm and rain damage. BKS Khandwa unit has separately demanded the loan repayment deadline be extended to May 31.The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and Congress have issued parallel warnings of demonstrations. Opposition leaders Kunal Choudhary, Digvijaya Singh, and Arun Yadav have pointedly noted that the Rs 2,700 MSP promised to farmers during the 2023 Assembly elections has arrived, in practice, at Rs 2,625, and even that figure is out of reach for most farmers this season.Lakshmi Narayan Patel's words carry a particular sting because of where they come from: "The government talks about doubling farmer income. Its policies are making farmers defaulters. If demands are not met by May 15, there will be a fierce agitation across the state."The most structurally sound demand comes from Akhilesh Meena, who argues for a permanent fix rather than a seasonal patch: the loan repayment deadline, he says, should be moved to May every year, because wheat is harvested in April and payment only comes after it is sold. "The fiscal year deadline of March 31 does not match farming's cycle. This uncertainty doesn't need to repeat every year."Cover photo - Between loans and losses, there’s no breathing room (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)

Why an Amrit Sarovar pond failed to recharge groundwater in a Bhopal village

A follow-up visit to Gunga shows how poor design, seepage and administrative delays rendered a community-funded water project ineffective.Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: In 2022, 101Reporters reported on a community-led effort in Gunga village, around 25 km from Bhopal, where residents pooled money, fuel and heavy machinery to help the district panchayat build a 50,000 cubic metre pond under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Amrit Sarovar Yojana. Officials said at the time that the project would recharge groundwater, ease chronic water scarcity and create new livelihoods through activities such as fish farming.In December 2025, nearly three years later, 101Reporters returned to Gunga to see what had become of those promises. The pond still exists, its embankments neatly paved and chairs placed along the retention wall. But it holds no water. Within 25 to 30 days of the monsoon ending, the pond dries up completely, leaving daily life in the village much as it was before the project began.The daily routine of labourer Dharmendra Ahirwar (38) has remained unchanged since the pond came into being. The promises of improved water supply have come to nothing: he still fetches water from a private borewell three kilometres away.For Aarti Ahirwar (20), a Class 12 student, each day begins with the search for water. “Even after the pond was built, nothing changed,” she said. “No water comes from the taps under the Nal Jal scheme. We have complained to everyone, from the sarpanch and secretary to the CM Helpline, but the problem remains the same.”In search of water, Aarti sometimes misses school. “For now, we manage with private borewells nearby and two government handpumps in the village,” she added. “But in summer, we have to bring water from Karodia village, several kilometres away.”This is not just Aarti’s experience but the collective reality of Gunga, a village of 4,650 people that has faced a groundwater crisis for decades. The water table here has fallen to 450-500 feet, and in summer, it drops beyond 800 feet.The pond still exists, its embankments neatly paved and chairs placed along the retention wall. But it barely holds water. (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Technical failureVillagers and experts say the failure of the pond was not inevitable, but the result of basic engineering flaws.When the project began in 2022, then district Chief Executive Officer Rituraj Singh said the site had been selected based on scientific recommendations. But villagers say that in the Rs 21.4 lakh project, emphasis was placed on “beautification” while core engineering requirements were ignored.Sadhana Lodhi, who leads a women’s self-help group in the village, said the most serious flaw lies in the retention wall built along the road-facing side. “Water leaks from there,” she said.Farmer Madanlal, who contributed a tractor-trolley and 40 litres of diesel during construction, said the embankment meant to hold water was poorly built, with multiple leakage points. “Other parts of the pond have also been left open. When the water level rises, pressure builds on weak sections and the water seeps out,” he said.Bhupendra Singh, who provided a JCB and 350 litres of diesel, said the administration installed paver blocks and chairs for aesthetic appeal but ignored essential techniques such as clay lining. “That is why the water does not stay,” he said.Food and Agriculture Organization guidelines recommend that the bottom of a pond contain at least a 20% clay-rich soil layer to prevent seepage. Villagers allege that while the site earlier collected rainwater naturally, the absence of a strong embankment and adequate depth allowed water to drain away.“We thought the administration would deepen the pond and strengthen the embankment so that water would remain for a few months after the rains,” Sadhana Lodhi said. “But rain ends… water ends.”Environmental expert Subhash C Pandey said many of Madhya Pradesh’s 5,839 Amrit Sarovars suffer from similar problems. “Without proper site surveys and geotechnical testing, a pond is nothing more than a pit,” he said, adding that desilting and maintenance are rarely carried out, further reducing capacity. As a result, promised livelihoods such as fish farming have failed to materialise.For farmers like Umrao Singh, the consequences are immediate. Singh, who owns 10 acres of land and contributed equipment and diesel to the project, has two borewells, one at 400 feet and another at 900 feet, but both dry up during summer. His field lies about 500 metres from the pond, yet even the deeper borewell yields only one or two buckets every 30 to 60 minutes in peak summer.“It was said the pond would hold water year-round and recharge surrounding land,” Singh said. “I hoped at least one assured crop would be possible. That hope now seems unrealistic.”Even promised livelihoods such as fish farming have failed to materialise (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Why the pond is not workingA water structure creates impact only if it retains water long enough to recharge groundwater or meet domestic, livestock or irrigation needs.Environmental expert Rakesh Diwan said it is scientifically difficult to prescribe a fixed number of days for water retention, as this depends on soil type, geology, catchment, outlet design, lining and maintenance. However, he said, the core objective of the Amrit Sarovar scheme is to extend groundwater recharge beyond the brief monsoon window.Central Ground Water Board data show that in many regions, most natural recharge occurs within just 20 to 30 days of the monsoon. Recharge structures are therefore meant to extend this period to up to three months. In Gunga, the pond retains water for only 25 to 30 days, effectively nullifying its recharge function.Environmental activist Rashid Noor Khan said the most visible point of failure in Gunga is the retention wall. “If joints are open or the slope and spillway are faulty, the pond turns into a drain,” he said. “Without water retention, both recharge and village supply fail.”The failure of the pond has had serious consequences in a region already under groundwater stress. According to the Central Ground Water Board’s Dynamic Ground Water Resources Report 2024, Bhopal district falls in the “semi-critical” category, extracting 79.29% of its groundwater annually while recharge remains limited to 20.71%.The crisis extends beyond the district. Across India, more than 11% of the country’s 6,553 groundwater Assessment Units are classified as “over-exploited”, where extraction exceeds recharge. Experts say it is precisely in such regions that recharge structures must be designed and maintained with care.For residents like Nafisa Bi (48), who moved to Gunga after her marriage in 1997, the pond’s technical failure has only prolonged an old struggle. “I spent my youth standing in queues for water,” she said. “Now the same fate is written for my children. Files are full of assurances, but the water did not stay in the village pond.”However, when villagers raised concerns about seepage and design flaws, they encountered bureaucratic delays. Santosh Lodhi, the sarpanch of Gunga, said a proposal for technical improvements and wall repairs was sent eight months ago and is still awaiting approval.The delay has been especially costly for villagers who collectively contributed Rs 4.28 lakh to the project. Gunga, however, is not an exception. Across the state and the country, many ponds exist in form, but not in function.Beyond statisticsLaunched in April 2022, the Amrit Sarovar scheme aimed to build at least 75 water bodies in every district. By March 2025, 68,842 ponds had been constructed nationwide. Uttar Pradesh leads with 16,630 ponds, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 5,839. The government has described the mission as a landmark water conservation effort.But villages like Gunga show that “completion” does not equal “usefulness”.A 2025 impact assessment by the NGO, GIZ India reported groundwater recharge effects from Amrit Sarovars in Madhya Pradesh up to a radius of 1,164.7 metres, the highest in the country. Pandey said such figures may hold where engineering is sound. “But in hundreds of places like Gunga, the impact is zero because water simply does not stay,” he said.Cover photo - Poor design, seepage and administrative delays caused this community-funded project to be ineffective (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters),

A three-year review of the Tax Sakhi scheme in Bhopal district

A review of Bhopal district’s Tax Sakhi scheme, launched in 2022, finds that while collections have improved, weak service delivery and policy instability continue to limit its promise of panchayat self-reliance.Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: When the Tax Sakhi scheme was launched in Bhopal district in April 2022, it was pitched as a way to reduce gram panchayats’ financial dependence on higher tiers of government while creating paid work for women from rural self-help groups and empowering them.Under the scheme, two women from each gram panchayat were trained to collect local taxes—property, sanitation, water and commercial levies—from households, with the stated aim of strengthening village-level self-governance under the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj and Gram Swaraj Act, 1993, alongside the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural).Going door-to-door, they collect Rs 100 in property tax, Rs 50 in swachhta (cleanliness) tax, Rs 1,400 in commercial tax from shops, fairs and markets and Rs 100 for water supply from every household. They start collection around the 10th of every month, with their working hours dependent on how fast they are able to convince the people to pay up. The entire process gets over within five to 10 days in some places, while it can take 15 to 20 days in others.In 2022, 101Reporters first reported on the scheme and found out that Tax Sakhis were facing discontent from the villagers who questioned why they were being asked to pay taxes when basic services remained patchy. In several villages across the Fanda and Berasia blocks, collection itself was a struggle, 101Reporters had reported. Three years later, 101Reporters returned to multiple gram panchayats in Bhopal district to ask a more fundamental question: has the scheme moved beyond tax collection to make panchayats self-reliant?Two women from each gram panchayat are trained to collect local taxes like property, sanitation, water and commercial levies (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)‘No facilities, no tax’In November 2025 , Sonam Bai, a Tax Sakhi from Fanda Kalan gram panchayat, described a situation that has changed little since 2022. 101Reporters had also spoken to her three years ago. “Ask anyone to pay tax and they immediately get angry,” she said. “They say there has never been tax in villages like in cities. We persuade people with great difficulty.”The bigger problem, she added, begins after the tax is paid.“Villagers agree to pay on time, but when they don’t see cleanliness, streetlights, roads, electricity or water improving, they question us. Then they say if there are no facilities they will not givetax.”Her colleague Phulvanti Bai said the anger is often misdirected. “We convey complaints to the gram panchayat and district panchayat. But when they are not resolved, we are the ones villagers confront.”Most unresolved complaints relate to water supply, roads and garbage collection. “If these were addressed regularly, tax collection would become much easier,” both women said, though they admitted they see little consistency in follow-up.Interviews with Tax Sakhis across Bhopal district revealed a shared experience: villagers are less opposed to taxation itself than to the absence of visible outcomes after payment.Many unresolved complaints are about garbage collection in the panchayat (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)A scheme built on incentivesThe Tax Sakhi scheme was conceptualised in early 2022 under then District Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Rituraj Singh. According to Girish Tavse, nodal officer of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), the framework was prepared in January that year. By March, 374 women from 222 gram panchayats were trained to issue receipts and upload data on the Panchayat Darpan portal.For many women, the work marked a shift in social and economic standing.“When we earned Rs 10,000 from tax collection in the first month, it was a very big moment,” said Shanti Meena (36) from Nazirabad. “It was not just a livelihood but it also provided us with dignity. Sonam Bai said she used her earnings to save for her children’s education.Tax Sakhis receive a commission of 10% on total collections. On average, this translates to Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 a month, depending entirely on how much tax they collect.In the first year, the scheme appeared to work. More than Rs 3 crore was collected across Bhopal district. One tangible outcome was the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) centre built in Intkhedi at a cost of Rs 48 lakh, intended to segregate and recycle village waste.Parvati Lodhi (40) from Sevaniya Onkara gram panchayat, said early resistance softened after awareness drives. “People said there had never been tax in villages. We explained that the money would be used for roads, streetlights and waste management.”Buoyed by these results, the state administration expanded the model to districts such as Dewas and Burhanpur.In Dewas, Tax Sakhis collected Rs 1.68 crore in six months. But, the underlying problem persisted: villagers continued to question why services did not match collections.In Burhanpur’s Ichhapur village in 2022-23, the panchayat passed a resolution to collect water tax and assigned 11 women from self-help groups to collect dues from 2,100 households. Residents initially refused, pointing out that water was supplied only once every 15 days.“It changed only after the sarpanch ordered water connections of 500 defaulters to be cut,” said Tax Sakhi Savita Kailash.Since then, Rs 17.5 lakh has been collected as water tax. Borewells and storage tanks were built using the funds, and water is now supplied daily. “Now we pay tax happily,” villagers said.Ichhapur village panchayat passed a resolution to collect water tax (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)The election shockJust as the scheme started stabilising, it was hit by a political shock.During the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced at a rally in Berasia that the Tax Sakhi scheme would be discontinued, citing complaints about tax collection without visible improvements.The announcement had an immediate impact.“We went village to village explaining for months,” said Kamla, 38, from Imliya village. “After the announcement, people said, ‘See, we told you.’ Our work collapsed overnight.”Collections fell sharply. “We went door to door and returned empty-handed,” said Sunita (32) from Parwaliya. “For months, there was no commission.”According to Santosh Jhariya, district coordinator and MRF nodal officer, the effects rippled outward. “The fall in collection destabilised the entire system.”Maintenance of 154 e-rickshaws and 75 tricycles stopped. Salaries were delayed. Recycling operations slowed as funds dried up. “Even the waste that came was mixed because machines weren’t maintained,” Jhariya said.However, the scheme was revived in 2024. Revised property tax slabs were introduced from August in 222 gram panchayats, reducing tax on assets up to Rs 50,000 from Rs 200 to Rs 100. Other levies remained unchanged.By April 2025, collections had reached Rs 2.40 crore, with around Rs 24 lakh paid as commissions.In February 2025, Ila Tiwari took charge as CEO of the Bhopal district panchayat and issued instructions to janpad officials to revive collections. Ila Tiwari, CEO of Bhopal District Panchayat visiting and inspecting the MRF (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)But it was harder this time around to restore the trust of the public in the system. “Villagers don’t believe the scheme is stable,” said Mamta Sahu, 36, from Mengra Kalan. “They think it can be shut anytime and that their money won’t be used for development.”Brij Kishore (62) a resident of the village, explained the resident’s doubt. “We want development and are ready to pay. But what guarantee is there?”Tiwari acknowledged the credibility gap. “Once a scheme is shut, it loses trust,” she said, adding that efforts were underway to focus on low-collection areas through training and awareness camps.For Tax Sakhis like Rani Mewada from Fanda Kalan, one way to build trust is by interacting with villagers but it has been difficult answering their questions. “They ask why there has been no road or drain for years,” she Mewada said. “Their question is valid. We have no answer.”Despite this, some Sakhis continue to collect taxes every month, albeit with difficulty. Mewada earned Rs 3,400 in commission between July and August, and Rs 4,300 in September-October.Self-reliance on paperUnder the Panchayat Raj and Gram Swaraj Act, 1993, gram panchayats have the right to levy and collect taxes. In practice, this autonomy has long remained on paper.“The Tax Sakhi scheme was the first serious attempt to operationalise this right,” said social activist Rashid Noor Khan. “And initially, it worked.”Tax Sakhis collected nearly twice as much as panchayat secretaries and employment assistants, demonstrating the impact of incentives and accountability. But the scheme’s limits soon became apparent.“When tax collection does not translate into visible development, payment becomes a burden,” Rashid Noor said. “Collection exists, but utilisation is weak.”The underperforming MRF centre and delayed payments to sanitation workers is an example of this gap.But, a contrasting example comes from Kalimukhi gram panchayat in Khandwa district, where villagers pay 100% of water, sanitation and property taxes. The panchayat uses its own revenue not only for infrastructure but also to fund initiatives such as pilgrimages for elderly residents.“When people see clear benefits, tax payment becomes a matter of pride,” Rashid Noor, a resident, said.Rural development expert Sanjay Sharma argued that the Tax Sakhi model rests on three pillars: cooperation from elected representatives, continuous public engagement, and policy stability. “In Bhopal, the absence of all three has weakened the scheme’s potential,” he said.Beyond collectionA review of the scheme suggested that the Tax Sakhi initiative has given women income, identity and visibility. But three years on, Bhopal’s experience shows that tax collection alone does not make panchayats self-reliant.Until basic services improve, villagers will continue to ask whether the tax is meant for development or merely for collection.“Gradually, people will get used to paying tax,” Mewada said. “For that to happen, the scheme will have to prove that paying tax actually changes everyday life in the village.”Cover photo - Sonam and Rani, tax sakhis who collect tax from the local households (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)

‘The last one-and-a-half years were no less than a nightmare’

Ex-principal of Government New Law College, Indore, and three others were booked in 2022 over an alleged Hinduphobic book in the college library, but their struggles intensified until this May when Supreme Court termed the allegations in the FIR “absurd”Bhopal/Indore, Madhya Pradesh: Everything fell apart so quickly before Dr Inamur Rahman (64) could fully grasp the gravity of the situation. He had tendered his resignation as the principal of Government New Law College, Indore, a few hours ago, and was now admitted to a hospital, disturbed by the protests alleging him of keeping a "Hinduphobic and anti-national book" in the college library.Within those few hours, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him at the Bhawar Kuan Police Station, based on a complaint from Lucky Adiwal, a second semester LLM student of the college. Dr Farhat Khan, the author of the ‘contentious’ book Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System, its publisher Amar Law Publications and college’s assistant professor Dr Mirza Mojiz Baig were also booked.“A NAAC [National Assessment and Accreditation Council] team was to inspect our college the next month, so I was busy with its preparations on December 1, 2022. Around 10.30 am, I was in my cabin when sloganeering began against teachers, professors and students of a particular religion. After a lot of effort, I could bring them into my cabin for discussions. I assured them that if they would give a written complaint, action would be taken against those guilty, after conducting a proper investigation. They agreed and left,” Rahman told 101Reporters.The protesters belonging to the student-run political organisation claimed that religious fanaticism of a particular group was increasing in the college. Their complaint to the principal alleged a college guest faculty of luring Hindu girl students to cafes and pubs, assistant  professor of religious fanaticism, and another three of brainwashing against the government and the Indian Army, speaking ill of Hindu kings and propagating a particular religion. It said students belonging to other religions were failed deliberately or were given low marks.“Despite knowing well that the allegations were baseless, an investigation was recommended under a retired district court judge. The committee was requested to submit its report within five days. The accused professors were told to stay away from the college on those five days,” Rahman said. However, despite the ongoing investigation, students suddenly launched a protest again, on December 3. Rahman joined the college as principal in 2019. “Until the day of complaint, I did not know this particular book was present in the college library. It was neither purchased during my tenure nor did the library ever issue it to any student. Farhat Khan is my former student, and this was the reason why I was tortured. Most of the accused teachers have left Indore city now,” he said.Glimpses of the protests (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters) Selective targetingThe FIR registered against Rahman and others included several sections of the Indian Penal Code, which together had provision for imprisonment up to 16 years, if found guilty. Section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153-B (claims prejudicial to national integration), 295-A (intentionally intending to hurt religious sentiments), 500 (defamation), 505 (provocative statements), 505(2) (causing or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes) and Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) were charged against them. Soon after the registration of FIR, Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Department took cognisance and launched a seven-member investigation team. Not only did the panel launch a superfast investigation, it even submitted its report on the same day (December 3). In fact, one of the panel members publicly stated that it had recorded statements of 250 students and teachers. Taking note of the report, the then higher education minister and present Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ordered suspension of Rahman and Baig. Rahman and others then applied for interim bail at the district court and sought dismissal of the case. During the December 6 hearing, Additional Government Pleader Sanjay Sharma, on behalf of the state government, and lawyers Govind Singh Rajput and Ravi Jain, on behalf of Adiwal, objected to their bail.The petitioner’s counsel presented a joint affidavit of Adiwal and four other students, which said that granting bail to applicants could give rise to communal hatred. They claimed that the college faculty concerned, while commenting on the Indian Army, had referred to the book in question during their lectures and had threatened to ruin lives if anyone protested. Considering all these, Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Goyal rejected the bail plea. Two days later, on December 8, Bhawar Kuan Police reached Pune to arrest the book author, but they returned after serving a notice under the Code of Criminal Procedure as she was undergoing dialysis. “I am suffering from a serious kidney disease, yet Indore Police tried to arrest me under pressure from the administration when I was admitted to a private hospital in Pune. The government, administration and police should have shown some sensitivity,” Khan said.Khan added that she co-authored the book with Dr Sheetal Kanwal, based on newspaper and media reports. “No one knows what action was taken against Kanwal. You can guess that action against me was on the basis of my religion,” she remarked.“We published the book in 2014, but RSS and workers of a student-run political organisation raised strong objections against some of its portions in 2021. We discussed the issue with the authors, and recalled all the sold copies and destroyed them. Later, after removing objectionable material of about 10 pages, new editions were printed. In March 2021 itself, Dr Khan tendered a written apology. Despite this, action was taken under political pressure,” Hitesh Khetrapal of Amar Law Publications told 101Reporters.Though Rahman approached the Indore High Court, he did not receive interim bail. Subsequently, he moved the Supreme Court (SC), which stayed his arrest on December 15, saying, "This is not a case of arrest."Last year, on May 17, the SC cancelled the criminal proceedings against Rahman and others, terming the FIR allegations “absurd”. The Bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said Khan's book could be found even in the SC library. “The Supreme Court has given us justice, but the fight is still going on as the former principal and I are guilty as per the Higher Education Department’s investigation,” said Baig. “I studied in the same college and was very attached to the students there,” he added, while hoping that the department will close the case and reinstate him as soon as possible. Rahman also expressed disappointment at the department’s inaction. “I applied for reinstatement in my job along with a copy of the order, but my hopes were dashed by the delay as I was to retire on May 31.”“If the department wanted, they could have heard my application and closed my case to allow me an honourable retirement. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Now I am just hoping that the government accepts my application and the SC decision and closes the ongoing case against me as soon as possible, so that I can get my stalled salary, provident fund and pension,” he added. Not a one-off incidentBhopal-based lawyer Deepak Bundela said that by cancelling FIR in the Indore case, the Supreme Court has proved that such actions not only violate academic freedom but also freedom of expression. Bundela himself has been a victim of violence on religious grounds during the COVID-19 period.“Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression. Critics and writers play an important role in highlighting social issues, so their work should be protected and they should not be harassed. In this case, the academics were additionally harassed because of their religious identity,” he added.Bundela said the Indore case was not a one-off incident, and that such incidents were not limited to Madhya Pradesh. “The incidents where right wing organisations worked to ensure suspension of professors or perpetrated action against them have been reported from many parts of the country.”Lawyer Saeeda Rehman, who challenges the fabricated cases registered against tribals and Dalits in the courts of Madhya Pradesh, said academics in Karnataka, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Gujarat and Delhi have fallen prey to caste and religion-specific cases. Advocate Abhinav P Dhanodkar, representing Rahman and Baig, said the case against them was registered for political and religion-based reasons. “Neither of them were involved in the publication or marketing of the book, yet my clients were unnecessarily dragged into this case.”He further said that Rahman has moulded thousands of students into judges and lawyers throughout his career. “My client was competent in this case. Imagine what would be the condition of a common man if he gets harassed by such an action,” Dhanodkar asked.Rahman wanted to give his best shot at developing the Government New Law College on the lines of National Law University, but he failed to realise that dream because of a conspiracy. “I have never indulged in any sort of communal idea. Yet the last one-and-a-half years were no less than a nightmare,” he said, with a choked voice. This story was originally published as a part of Crime and Punishment project in collaboration with Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. Cover Photo - Representative image/ AI-generated using Canva

Why residents of this MP village want to renegotiate a 13-year-old land deal

Villagers allege violations of rehabilitation policy and land transfer laws in Adani’s takeover of a stalled thermal power projectAnuppur, Madhya Pradesh: More than a decade after Welspun Energy acquired farmland in Madhya Pradesh’s Anuppur district for a thermal power project, the plant is yet to be completed.In May 2011, the company acquired 218.53 hectares of agricultural land from 246 farmers under the Madhya Pradesh government's Adarsh Rehabilitation Policy, 2002. Land was also purchased separately from two other farmers. The following year, Welspun launched the 1.32 GW (2X660 MW) super-critical coal-fired power plant.Plant boundary in Anuppur (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)In 2023, Adani Power Limited began acquiring shares of the project company and took full control by October 2024. Now being executed by its subsidiary, Anuppur Thermal Power Private Limited, the project has been expanded into an ultra-supercritical 3.2 GW (4x800 MW) plant, with an estimated cost of Rs 36,600 crore.But while ownership of the project has changed hands, farmers say the terms of the original land acquisition agreement remain unresolved.Affected farmers from the villages of Chhatai, Majhtoliya, Umrada and Kotma say that the original agreement made with Welspun was never honoured: either in spirit or law. Compensation was paid, but promises of employment, healthcare, education and unemployment allowances were abandoned within two years, they say.Now as Adani Power Limited prepares to build the plant, the villagers are not just demanding a new agreement. They are asserting that they still have a legal right over the land. At the centre of this claim is Clause 23 of the Madhya Pradesh Adarsh Rehabilitation Policy, 2022, Sarpanch of Umrada village Akhilesh Singh said. The clause states that if a company fails to begin work or take possession of acquired land within more than ten years, the land must either be returned to the original owner or fresh acquisition proceedings must be carried out.Legal experts argue that the transfer of land from Welspun to Adani was not carried out in accordance with either the Madhya Pradesh Adarsh Rehabilitation Policy, 2002 or the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, said Rahul Shrivastava, a lawyer. “According to the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, companies must obtain the consent of affected villagers before transferring the acquired land. The affected farmers are considering approaching the court to assert their rights,” Shrivastava said.The 2013 law permits land transfers to other entities only with state government approval and the explicit consent of those affected. However, farmers in Anuppur allege that their land was transferred without consent. They have repeatedly filed objections, calling the process illegal.Several villagers say they have repeatedly objected to the transfer and described it as illegal.Jugal Kishore Rathore, leader of the Joint Contract Labour Union (CITU), echoed their concerns. He said the state government must “save agriculture from destruction by returning the land to farmers under Clause 23.” JCB on the green fields (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Rathore also pointed out that Anuppur is a Scheduled Area governed by the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and the Forest Rights Act. “No Gram Sabha was held before the land transfer. That alone makes it unlawful,” he said. “The acquired land has not been used for years. According to the rules, it should have been returned to the villagers.”The farmers’ core demand is not just compensation or rehabilitation, it is that any new agreement for the project must be negotiated afresh, this time with Adani Power Limited. Until that happens, they say, they will not allow the company to use “even an inch of their land”. People united against Adani's actions (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Promises made, promises brokenIn 2012, Welspun Energy acquired over five acres of farmland from Ram Dayal Sahu (55), a farmer from Chhatai village in Anuppur district. “When the company people came, they showed us big dreams,” Sahu said. “They said our children will get jobs, a school and a hospital will be built in the village. We believed them and gave away our ancestral land.”Welspun acquired a total of 360 hectares for its thermal power project—including 218.53 hectares of agricultural land—under the Adarsh Rehabilitation Policy. Each of the 248 farmers received Rs 2.5 lakh per acre and a one-time payment of Rs 16,000.Apart from compensation, Welspun signed an agreement promising employment or a substitute wage. If it failed to provide a job to one member of every affected family, the company would pay a monthly grant equivalent to 17 days' wages, as set by the Labour Commissioner, for 200 days annually, over five years.But according to Sahu, this allowance stopped within a year or two.Thirteen years later, villagers say not a single job has materialised. “Even after all this time, the plant hasn’t been built and we haven’t been given any work,” said Rambahor (43) of Chhatai. “We can’t even farm on our land. We have to migrate to other cities and work as labourers.”Chanda Bai, the current sarpanch of Chhatai, said: “We only got compensation, which is now useless. Our land is gone, and our children are still unemployed.”The project received environmental clearance in 2012 for a 1.32 GW (2x660 MW) coal-fired power plant across Kotma, Chhatai, Majhtoliya and Umrada villages. Under Ministry of Environment rules, such clearance is granted only after No Objection Certificates from the Gram Sabha, Revenue Department and Forest Department.Officials involved at the time could not be contacted.However, Welspun never began construction, and its environmental clearance lapsed in November 2023. That same year, Adani Power Limited acquired the project and expanded the project into an ultra-supercritical plant, nearly tripling its original coal and water requirements.The revised plan increased the project area to 371 hectares, including 312 hectares of private and 59 hectares of government land. Annual coal requirement rose to 13.3 million tonnes, and water demand doubled to 36 cubic metres per second, to be sourced from the Kewai and Son rivers.In October 2024, Adani received Terms of Reference (ToR) approval for the revised project. The MoEFCC directed the company to conduct a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), including air pollution, biodiversity, and water use impacts within a 10-kilometre radius. Although a report has been prepared and public hearings are underway in the villages, villagers say the process has lacked transparency.At one such hearing, attended by Additional Collector Dilip Kumar Pandey, Pollution Board official Mukesh Shrivastava, and Additional SP Israr Mansuri, villagers from four affected villages submitted a 14-point demand list.“No decisions were taken on our demands,” Singh said.While the administration called the hearing a success, local activists said it was just a formality to push through clearances.Glimpse of jan sunwai in Anuppur (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)New company, old contractOn May 15, 2025, a public hearing was held for environmental clearance. The district administration claimed around 1,500 villagers participated and called it a success.But farmers said core issues, return of land, employment, revised compensation, weren’t even on the agenda. They accused the administration of going through the motions without addressing the grievances that had remained unresolved for more than a decade.Adani officials insist that the project would bring economic benefits.  Anurag Singh, the Project Head of Anuppur Thermal Power Project, claimed that environmental safeguards such as afforestation on 123 hectares, dust control through water sprinkling, and windproof walls for coal storage would minimise ecological harm. He said Adani Power Limited would launch health, education, and livelihood schemes through its foundation. According to Singh, 350 permanent and 250 contract jobs would be created during construction, with 550 permanent and 50 temporary positions in the operational phase.But to farmers in Chhatai, Majhtoliya, Umrada and Kotma villages, these are familiar claims. “These were the same promises 13 years ago. Now we will not trust only promises. We want a concrete guarantee,” Urmeda Sarpanch Singh said. Manish Singh, a farmer from Umrada, said: “We also want development and employment. If we didn’t, why would we have given land to Welspun in the first place? But they cheated us. They didn’t even pay the unemployment allowance. How can we trust this company that isn’t even ready to sign an agreement?”Welspun medicare in Majhtoliya (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)For years, the farmers have been petitioning local officials, holding demonstrations, and submitting memorandums.Singh said, “Whenever we ask officials or local leaders about our demands, they say, ‘After so many years the plant is finally coming up, don't obstruct it now.’ Even our local MLA who supported us earlier has changed his stance. Now they say the company is promising you facilities. What more do you want?”While waiting for development in 2024, farmers had begun cultivating their old plots. “This year we sowed crops on the land, but once Adani Power Limited got wind of it, they sent bulldozers to destroy our fields,” said a farmer. “They even posted armed guards who won’t let us come close to our own land.”Villagers also alleged that despite the May 15 public hearing not being officially concluded, land-leveling work on the project site began in the last week of May. Protests by villagers forced a halt to the construction. “This shows the strength of community resistance,” said a farmer. “We’ve waited 13 years hoping for development. And now we are ready to wait for a new agreement.”“But that’s just it,” Singh continued. “We’re not saying don’t build the plant. We’re saying don’t take our land without a fresh agreement. We gave it once in good faith and were betrayed. We won’t let that happen again."Cover Photo - Villagers protesting against Adani's actions (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)

Mission Mausam faces rural roadblock: How digital gaps and jargon keep weather forecasts from MP’s farmers

The central government’s weather app struggles to speak the language of farmers, limiting their ability to plan for an increasingly unpredictable climate.Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh:  When unseasonal rains hit Dhamra village in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal district this May, Prahlad Kushwaha’s (45) moong crop (green gram) was nearly ready. But just as he began preparing for harvest, heavy rain and pest attacks damaged most of it.“I had invested Rs 12,000,” he said. “The rain destroyed everything. If we had known it was coming, maybe we could have harvested our crop earlier.”Kushwaha’s loss is part of a larger trend. This year, moong was grown on around 14.35 lakh hectares across Madhya Pradesh, with nearly 12 lakh hectares under the zaid (summer) crop.  But delays in sowing—caused largely by a late wheat harvest—combined with sudden weather disruptions in May, including hailstorms and pest attacks like yellow mosaic virus and whitefly, have significantly reduced yields. In major moong-producing districts such as Harda, Khandwa, Bhopal, Sehore, and Narsinghpur, farmers and agriculture officials estimate crop losses between 30% and 45 %.Ram Swaroop, a farmer from Khirkiya village in Harda, said a hailstorm on May 10 left him with barely anything to sell. “Traders are offering only Rs 5,500 per quintal,” he said—far below the Rs 8,768 per quintal Minimum Support Price (MSP) set for moong for the 2025–26 season. In Narsinghpur, a farmer who harvested 90 quintals from 16 acres was offered just Rs 6,000 per quintal due to poor grain quality.For them, the changing climate has made one thing clear: timely and accurate weather forecasts are now critical, especially for short-cycle crops like moong that mature within 60 to 70 days.It is this gap that the central government’s Mission Mausam 3.0, launched in October 2024, aims to bridge.A joint initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the India Meteorological Department, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the programme promises to deliver hourly and five-day forecasts in 12 Indian languages to over 2.55 lakh gram panchayats across the country. These updates are available via platforms like e-Gram Swaraj, Panchayat Darpan, and the Meri Panchayat app—tools meant to help farmers make better decisions around sowing, irrigation, pesticide use, and harvesting.According to the Indian Journal of Dryland Agricultural Research and Development, farmers who use weather forecasts effectively can double their profits.“Knowing in advance about rain or hail helps farmers harvest early or take protective measures,” said Mangilal Vishwakarma, secretary of Gunga Panchayat in Bhopal district.But on the ground, the implementation of Mission Mausam 3.0 has proven far more complex.Santosh Gour watering the crops (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Digital divideThe digital divide stands as a major barrier, limiting the reach and effectiveness of hyper-local weather information.Many farmers, like Kushwaha, do not own smartphones. Even those who do often struggle with the apps. “I have a smartphone, but it’s difficult to operate apps and understand the technical language,” said Shyamlal (38), a farmer from Ganjbasoda.While the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 estimates that about 67.2% of the rural population owns smartphones, access doesn’t always translate into meaningful use—especially when digital literacy is low and internet connectivity is patchy.Platform usability and language are additional hurdles. On the Gram Manchitra platform, Shyamlal often finds weather data listed as “undefined,” and most of the information appears only in English, with no option for translation. Even when forecasts are offered in Hindi on the e-Gram Swaraj website, the terminology can be difficult to grasp.Phrases like “badal ka avaran” (cloud cover), “saapekshik aadtrata” (relative humidity), and “megh avaran” (another term for cloud cover) are commonly used, but they’re unfamiliar to many farmers, making it harder to interpret the updates.Jagdish Meena, a farmer from Eintkhedi (Jagdishpur), finds the e-Gram Swaraj app “too technical”. “It’s not in a format we can easily understand,” he said. He suggested that simpler language and a more intuitive design could help make it user friendly for its target audience. Moong crop damages in Bhopal (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Hits and missesThese barriers to using the app have real consequences on the ground.In Abgaon Khurd village of Harda district, a hailstorm on May 10 wiped out standing moong crops. “If we had known earlier, we could have covered the crop or harvested it early,” said farmer Sunil Golya. In Khandwa, early May rains damaged over 10,000 hectares of moong, highlighting how delays or gaps in access to forecasts leave farmers exposed.There are, however, instances when the system has worked. In Eintkhedi village, farmer Gajraj Singh Meena said he used rain alerts from the e-Gram Swaraj app to adjust his irrigation. “I reduced the water supply whenever rain was forecast. My neighbours did the same and we were able to save our crops,” he said.Still, such success stories remain the exception rather than the rule.“Most farmers don’t even know about these apps. They rely on radio, Doordarshan, or automated phone calls,” said Akhilesh Meena of the Kisan Sangh in Bhopal. He added that there is a need for awareness campaigns and hands-on training to ensure more farmers can effectively use Mission Mausam’s tools.Farmer leader Vinayak Rajput echoed this, pointing towards a broader infrastructure gap. “We need faster, more reliable internet in rural areas,” he said.“And the information must be in simple, local language,” added Professor Ashok Kumar Patil of Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University, Jabalpur.Maharaj Meena at his farm (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Bridging the gapIn addition to this, there is also a lack of local observatories and equipment for accurate forecasting at the village level, Praveen Saxena, scientist at IMD's Nagpur regional centre, said.“Events like rainfall and storms change quickly, and forecast accuracy drops significantly by the fifth day.”To address this, under Mission Mausam 3.0, there is a plan to install 18 new Doppler radars, 50 wind profilers, 100 automatic weather stations (AWS) across the country at a cost of Rs 2000 crore. While supercomputers, AI and machine learning techniques are being used. Cloud chambers will be installed at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), which will study monsoon clouds. The mission also aims to improve short- to medium-range forecast accuracy by 5–10%, enhance panchayat-level forecasting, and deliver a 10% improvement in air quality forecasts. In Madhya Pradesh, one Doppler radar and five AWS units are already functional in Bhopal, with another radar currently being installed in Indore. Capacity-building also remains a focus area. Around 200 Krishi Mitras and Panchayat Secretaries are undergoing digital training, and the IMD is training at least five farmers in every village to understand and interpret weather data. “These farmers will help others in their villages learn how to check forecasts on their phones and respond in time,” Saxena said.Cover Photo - Santosh Gour at his farm (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)

Waste to wealth: Bhopal district panchayat spends Rs 75,000 per month to earn just Rs 4.5 lakh a year

Lack of sufficient funds for the smooth operation of material recovery facility and low public awareness hinder waste management in rural areas  Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal district panchayat has a reputation when it comes to waste management, but there is more to it than meets the eye. In 2022, a material recovery facility (MRF) was set up on 5,000 sq ft of land in Itkhedi panchayat at a cost of Rs 48 lakh. The facility scientifically disposes of the waste generated daily in 187 village panchayats. It caters to 1,02,325 households in 479 villages of the district and earns money from it.As many as 19 types of materials, including multi-layer plastic, low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, tyre and iron, are processed at the facility. Every day, around 300 kg of waste material is collected.  However, the biggest challenge that waste collectors face is that the villagers never keep wet and dry waste separately. Safai mitras (sanitation workers) separate them as much as possible while loading them into the garbage vehicle. Once the garbage reaches the segregation shed, more workers are involved in separating them again.'Wet waste is converted into NADEP compost, while dry waste goes to MRF. Despite our efforts to segregate the waste properly, many a time the waste bags are returned citing improper segregation,'' Sumer Singh Rajput, secretary, Gunga panchayat, tells 101Reporters .Dry waste gets segregated at the MRF (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Kumari Chamiya Bai (55), sarpanch, Karondiya panchayat, says that returning garbage increases their problems. “We already face a shortage of garbage vehicle drivers. Workers are not available to separate the garbage. Those who are available work for a month or two and then leave. When the waste comes back, separating it again means increased cost and labour,” he explains.Bhopal district panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rituraj Singh tells 101Reporters that they have provided 229 garbage vehicles, including 154 e-rickshaws and 75 tricycles, to 187 panchayats for transportation of waste. “In the last two years, we have converted all garbage vehicles into electric vehicles,” he details.“By dividing 187 panchayats into five routes, we have created sheds in 26 nodal village panchayats, where garbage from village panchayats falling in that respective route is processed. Using Google Forms, panchayat secretaries of the nodal separation shed maintain data of both waste received from each panchayat and delivered to MRF,” he says. Singh adds that the process has been designed in such a way that the time taken to transport the collected waste to MRF is reduced and the waste is sent as per the MRF's capacity.  (Right) Bhopal district panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rituraj Singh (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)The MRF is equipped with a conveyor belt and segregator, compressor, incinerator, and machines to cut and shred waste. The end product is packed in 100 kg bags and sent to the Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Agency (MPRRDA) and agencies that work on recycled products. MRF maintains a detailed logbook for the sale and purchase of waste, so that the amount can be shared with the village panchayats.According to Singh, from November 2022 to January 2024, MRF received 85.5 metric tonnes of waste, which included 41% paper, 22% mixed waste, 18% plastic, 9% glass, 5% clothes, 4% hair and 1% bones. Of this, 42.2 metric tonne was disposed of and 35 metric tonne was processed, while the rest was left in the warehouse. He says 14.21 metric tonnes of waste was sold to the recycling agency, 4.01 to MPRRDA, 10.16 to Sarthak Sanstha and 6.68 metric tonnes to local vendors, thereby generating Rs 4.5 lakh.  “Garbage vehicles are equipped with GPS trackers. We have also created a smart command centre at the district panchayat. We get daily updates on the operation of vehicles, time taken for transport, quantity of waste received and the processed quantity,” MRF nodal officer Santosh Jharia tells 101Reporters .Official inspection, flying squad and deep clean drive team  (they mostly clean up public places where waste piles up) are part of the offline process. “If we get a complaint, we send a flying squad team for inspection and subsequently take appropriate action. Every 15 to 20 days, the official team visits the panchayats assigned to them and takes stock of the cleanliness and door-to-door waste collection work," he adds.Wet waste is converted into NADEP compost, while dry waste goes to MRF (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Safai mitras face multiple issuesThe garbage van driver of Gunga village used to drive a Tata Magic before. “The panchayat contacted me to drive the van for Rs 8,000 to 10,000 per month. However, I got only Rs 6,000 per month so far. Even that is not paid on time,” the driver says, on condition of anonymity.A 45-year-old woman who used to clean and pack plastic waste in separate sacks at the nodal segregation shed of Mengra Kalan panchayat left the work a few months ago and has returned to work as a farmhand. “People do not respect that work. My children are teased at the government school where they study.”Sonam Bai* (34) of Phanda Kalan panchayat collects and segregates household waste. She wants to leave the job as she has not received the payment on time in the last six months. “Six months ago, when I used to work as a farm labourer, I did not have any disease. But now, I always suffer from cold and cough. The doctor has told me it is due to allergy, and has advised me to avoid dealing with dirt, garbage heaps and dust, but it is my compulsion to work,” she says.Meanwhile, farmer Suresh Singh (45) of Arwaliya panchayat raises questions about the efficacy of the initiative. “Neither the garbage is being collected from the village on time nor the drains are cleaned.  In our village, garbage piles can be seen outside the collection centre. Plastic foils and bottles drift in winds and enter the fields, affecting soil fertility and decreasing crop yield.”Taking his point forward, farmer Vivek Rajput (37) of the same village says the piling up of garbage has increased the menace of mosquitoes and flies, which could lead to infectious diseases. Pratap Gurjar (36), a labourer from Jagdishpur village in Itkhedi panchayat, alleges that the poor are fined for waste dumping in public places. However, marriage halls, farm houses and other establishments near municipal corporation limits are spared from such actions.This is evident in Arwaliya, Semra, Imliya, Deval Khedi, Mungalia Kot, Shyampur, Parvaliya and Acharpura, where heaps of waste can be found. “They either throw garbage in open places or burn it. Even the sarpanch and panchayat secretary are aware of this, but only the poor are fined. Sewage from drains enter the main road due to blocked drains in these villages. For the last few months, waste collection and cleaning of drains have stopped completely,” Gurjar alleges.Asked about this, CEO Rituraj Singh says the number of complaints about blocked drains was quite high when MRF started functioning in 2022. “With the help of GPS and smart control centre, such complaints have been addressed to a large extent, but not completely. Currently, we are receiving complaints related to waste in many panchayats, which are being investigated.”Admitting that lack of resources and awareness were affecting the work, Singh says they have been making continuous efforts to overcome resource deficiencies as quickly as possible. "We continuously organise awareness programmes in rural areas."Data on waste collection at MRF (sourced by Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Noting that they have no extra funds for the maintenance of vehicles and for making payments to safai mitras, Singh says the operating cost of MRF has been on the rise. "Currently, it comes to Rs 75,000 per month. To meet all expenses, we are dependent on tax collection from villages. If we get an operation and maintenance budget like in urban areas, the fund shortage issue can be solved to a great extent. Since there is a lack of specific policy for rural areas regarding bulk waste generators, pollution is increasing there,'' he says.*Name changed to protect privacy Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - A worker working at a material recovery facility (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)

La La Lantana: Madhya Pradesh villagers clear out invasive species, laugh all the way to the bank

As many as 14 village forest committees are involved in making lantana chips that are used by cement plants in Satna district as a combustible fuel substituting coal Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: “I still remember collecting chironji from Majhgawan forest range, so that my family could meet the expenses related to my sister’s wedding feast. It was two decades ago. My mother, two brothers and I spent four days in the forest collecting 80 kg of chironji. I sold it in the market and arranged money for the feast. Today, the situation has changed. No matter how many days you spend in the forest, you will get nothing.”Rameshwar Mawasi (75), a Mawasi tribal from Chitahra village in Majhgawan block of Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district, is a witness to the slow death of the local forest due to the invasion of lantana (Lantana camara). “With the forest department fencing large tracts, we have access only to a few areas where only mahua, chironji and some herbs grow. Sadly, they are on the verge of destruction due to the invasive species,” he adds.Lantana first came to India from Latin America as an ornamental plant in the 1800s, but later spread across the country. According to Bhopal Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Alok Pathak, conservation of native species is important in view of climate change. However, lantana restricts the diversity of many indigenous species and herbs. It absorbs water and nutrients faster than other forest species and affects soil fertility.  It can also adversely affect the health of grazing animals due to the toxic compound found mostly in its leaves. Its dense thickets increase the risk of forest fires as well.  A research article published in Global Ecology and Conservation in 2020 assessed the lantana spread in the country's forests. The team members surveyed 2,07,100 sq km of forests and found that lantana has invaded 1,54,837 sq km of the surveyed forests. Through this sample, they assessed that 303,607 sq km of the total forest area in the country is threatened by lantana invasion.   Due to lantana invasion, tribals face shortage of their traditional foods and are forced to migrate for employment. The new generation of tribals are losing traditional knowledge about forest produce that have gradually disappeared. “Until a few decades ago, the people of our community were skilled in finding fruits, vegetables and even medicinal plants from the forests, but not anymore,” notes Rameshwar.Breaking down lantana with a machine (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)A project takes shapeThe forest department makes efforts to clear out lantana every year, with the work done before the rains (April-May) and again after the rains (August-September). However, the 2021 effort was  particularly striking as the department started sending shredded lantana chips to a cement plant in Satna district, to be used as a combustible fuel substituting coal.The Village Forest Committee (VFC), in which all residents of that particular village are members, was assigned the task of uprooting lantana bushes from the forest area. The VFC members who participated in the effort received Rs 1,200 per metric tonne of shredded lantana chips in their bank accounts, while the committee’s dividend was Rs 500 per metric tonne.  “Collective efforts and regular monitoring can tackle even poisonous and invasive species like lantana,” Satna DFO Vipin Kumar Patel tells 101Reporters. “The work provides economic, social and environmental benefits to the community. People get paid for weed removal, while VFC receives dividends that can ensure development of the area,” he adds.Rewa DFO Anupam Sharma, who has been instrumental in creating and running the project, tells 101Reporters that the idea crossed his mind when he was attending a meeting with senior officers regarding lantana eradication, while posted in Satna division as a trainee officer in 2021. “Examining several researches made me realise that lantana can be used as biomass. Subsequently, my colleagues and I made a list of cement plants in the district. We learnt that most of them were using bioenergy [wood, wood residues, crop residues or household waste] as an alternative to coal.”The team then held discussions with a few cement plant operators, but they wanted to ascertain the calorific value of lantana (the amount of energy released when it is burnt). “With the help of the plant operators, we got the calorific value of lantana tested by a Bengaluru company. This report revealed that the calorific value of coal was 4,800 kcal/kg, while the grass calorific value of lantana was 4,200 kcal/kg and the net calorific value 3,900 kcal/kg, which made it a better alternative to coal as green fuel in cement plants. After the report came, a cement plant said they were ready to accept shredded lantana bushes,” Sharma details. After discussions with top officials, a proposal was sent to the government for approval. “On getting approval, we started work on the pilot project in Patehra VFC in Maihar forest range of Satna in 2021. We ordered the JF40 chaff cutter machine from a company in Bengaluru by utilising the Green India Mission fund. Soon, 76 members of Patehra VFC started removing lantana bushes from the forest,” Sharma adds.As transportation to the cement plant also was the VFC's responsibility, the forest department made it sign an agreement with Gurukul Traders, a company that supplies coal and biomass fuel to cement plants, to transport shredded lantana to the plant. “In the first three months alone, we extracted about 29.87 metric tonnes of lantana from ​Patehra, earning Rs 50,779 to the VFC. Of this, Rs 35,844 were given as wages,” Sharma says.Workers making lantana chips (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Expansion modeThe pilot project was successful, but the project was not moving forward because more machines were needed to cut lantana into small pieces. “We purchased two more machines using the Green India Mission fund in 2022 and expanded the project to 13 more VFCs in the district,” says Satna DFO Patel. Chithara, Patna Kalan, Bundelapur, Patna Khurd, Godan Tola and Motwa VFCs of Majhgawan forest range, Judehi, Kailashpur, Gorsihai and Matiachua from Chitrakoot range, Rampur Patha from Unchehara range, Karimati from Nagod range and Palauha from Maihar range were the newly-included VFCs. “With the help of these VFCs, in the 2022-23 fiscal, we extracted 1,214.98 metric tonnes of lantana and sent it to four cement plants in Satna district through Gurukul Traders. We supplied lantana chips to MP Birla Cement, RCCPL plant in Maihar and others. Our VFCs earned Rs 20.65 lakh in a matter of one year. Of this, Rs 14.57 lakh were given as wages, while VFCs accumulated dividends of Rs 6.07 lakh. The VFC in Patehra has utilised a part of the dividend it received to dig a tube well to ease water shortage,” Patel informs.Anurag Singh, secretary, Gorsihai VFC, says Lantana had encroached upon large tracts of forest land around his village. “Last year, the committee members extracted 35 metric tonnes of lantana and received Rs 42,000 as wages, while the VFC got Rs 17,500 as dividend.”He further says that due to lantana overgrowth, access to forest produce has been gradually decreasing, and wild animals hiding in these bushes posed a risk to life. The villagers have to stay awake all night in their fields to monitor crops. “After the initiative, our problems have reduced to a great extent,” he attests.Rampur Patha VFC member Maravi Singh (54) has been cultivating four acres of land, but fear of wild animals always forced him to guard the field day and night. The villagers also had to put up temporary fencing, which is no longer required.Godan Tola VFC secretary Rahul Soni says they uprooted 171.86 metric tonnes of lantana last year, earning Rs 2.06 lakh in wages and Rs 85,930 as dividend. “We used the dividend to dig tube wells. Preparations are also being made to plant medicinal plants in the rainy season.” Rampur Patha VFC provided 109 metric tonnes of lantana and earned Rs 1.85 lakh. Of this, Rs 1.31 lakh was spent on wages, while the committee received Rs 54,500. “About 712 people from 156 families in Rampur Patha came together to clear 77 hectares of forest land. Most of them are from the tribal community and do farming for a living,” says secretary Manoj Singh.Kushram Mawasi (45) says local trees such as palash, jamun, raila, dhawa and karonda have started growing following the removal of lantana. Fodder for animals is available in the forest now, which has largely reduced crop damage by wild boar, deer and chital.Taking out lantana from the forest (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)What next?According to Pushpendra Gautam, supervisor, Gurukul Traders, most of the cement plants in Satna district started focusing on bioenergy as an alternative to coal last year, influenced by rising coal prices and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's self-reliant vision and vision of reducing carbon emissions. “This helped us make about Rs 20 lakh last year. As the machines provided by the department to crush lantana bushes were of very low capacity, it wasted a lot of our time. So, we bought a machine with higher capacity.”However, he is not sure what is in store this year. “I do not think this time we will be as successful, because we are not seeing an increase in coal prices. Also, the forest department is not giving us any subsidy to buy machines bigger than those currently in use. If we use bigger machines, more work can be done in a shorter time. The wages are also high. The department should either reduce the wage rates or provide funds and subsidies for purchasing big machines,” Gautam notes. Patel agrees that high coal prices turned the tide in their favour last time. “We are keeping an eye on coal prices... Using the dividend, we have made complete preparations for planting tree saplings during the rainy season. For this, one lakh saplings have been ordered from the forest nursery,” he says. Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Clearing out lantana in Rampur Patha (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)

Portal of trouble opens again for Madhya Pradesh tribals on the lookout for pattas

Only online applications can be made for new and rejected lease claims; even for revisions that can be done offline, authorities are pushing for online mode Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: Ravalusingh Baiga (50) had been cultivating four to five acres of land since 1998. When the Forest Rights Act (FRA) came into existence in 2006, he filed a lease claim for those eight fields. However, the lease copy he got in 2016 gave him the right to only an acre, or four fields. “Now you can guess how we run the house,” sighs Ravalusingh, whose eight-member family lives at Dhaba in Samnapur tehsil of Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district.Budhlal Baiga (40) alleges that every third person in the village has suffered this setback. “They got 10 or 20 decimals after making claims for two to five acres. Despite lodging complaints and officials taking note, the problem persists,” he says.Organisations working for tribal welfare claim that 90% of the distributed leases have seen unwarranted reduction of land, whether the application was made offline or online. The problem persists not only in the 89 tribal development blocks of Madhya Pradesh, but also in other states Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.Madhuri Ben, president, Jan Jagruti Samiti, which helps tribals in Burhanpur attain forest rights pattas (land titles), says applicants are now being forced to file claims through Van Mitra portal or  app. “This has proved even more disastrous.” FRC of Sheetalpani scrutinizing the maps of homesteads and farmlands (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Why portal?   The members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in and depend on the forests or forest land for livelihood can claim rights under FRA 2006. Any member or community whose three generations (75 years) prior to December 13, 2005, primarily resided in forest land is also eligible. Ten acres can be claimed for individual lease, whereas no limit has been set for community lease.When rejections mounted, the state government launched the Madhya Pradesh Van Mitra portal and mobile app in December 2019 to review the rejected claims. From December 2019 to November 2022, a total of 6,27,513 applications went through the Van Mitra portal and 6,17,284 claims (98%) were resolved. However, the portal gradually shut in 2020, citing confusion due to the arrival of new claims. By May last year, the portal was functional only in eight of the total 55 districts. Last July, the portal reopened to hear both new and rejected claims, but that meant only more trouble. The claims sent back for amendments will still be heard offline.Before reopening the portal, a 12-member task force was formed last April under the chairmanship of the then Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, for effective implementation of the rules of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and FRA. This task force is functional only on paper now.A claim-making camp organized by the FRC of Pondi Forest Village (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Task force's suggestions ignoredTask force member Milind Thatte says they had suggested that the forest lease hearing should be held offline at gram sabhas because the rules itself say that the decision should be taken at gram sabha public meeting. “We had suggested that Van Mitra portal is needed to bring transparency, but should be limited to keeping records of claim documents, gram sabha decisions and leases,” he details.Another task force member and FRA expert Dr Sharad Lele tells 101Reporters that he had brought issues related to portal use before the government's notice in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chouhan, about 10 months ago. Some of them were poor network coverage, non-availability of mobiles or laptops, poor education status of most tribals, and lack of clarity in satellite images. However, last April itself, the administration called lease applications in 20 forest villages of Dindori district with help from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and National Institute of Women, Child and Youth Development. “Wrong names and land compartments, and mistakes in farm size and location were found in the approved land titles during this period.”“As these are old forest villages settled by the forest department, all the fields here are eligible for individual pattas. So it was decided to mark and measure every field. Maps were prepared and then claims made afresh," says Lele, Distinguished Fellow, ATREE, which also applied for amendments in many claims.Notably, 230 claims, including new and those requiring revisions, were filed offline at Sheetalpani in Bajag tehsil and Pondi in Samnapur tehsil, in culmination of the work that began last April. Amendments had to be made to 70% of the claims given earlier. The work could not proceed in the remaining 18 villages due to portal reopening.A comprehensive map of Pondi Forest Village showing all individual lands, common-lands, and the forest within traditional boundary (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Offline new applications stalled“We first examined the land titles received at Sheetalpani and Pondi, and realised that most of them needed amendment. We formed a team each of village elders and youth. We held workshops to make tribals aware of the maps, land measurement and other technical information,” details Mohit Mahajan, ATREE coordinator, Dindori.Along with both teams, ATREE listed farms of every person in a register. Maps were prepared using mobiles with GPS and AMCHO CFR open source application to mark the location and size of each person's farm. Details of every claimant’s Aadhaar and ration cards, and voter ID were added. After claims were resubmitted offline, the forest rights committee along with revenue and forest officials measured the plots.  After the claims got gram sabha approval, they went to the sub-divisional and district committees, where 90 out of the 134 claims of Sheetalpani got approval. The remaining were returned to the gram sabha for corrections. However, only 51 of the 90 approved claimants have received land titles. Remaining are on hold because they are new claims, for which the district administration now allows applications only online.Of the 96 claims from Pondi, the sub-divisional committee accepted 80, while the forest department wanted changes to the rest. After site re-inspection and claim improvement, the claims have reached the district committee.The district administration has not made a final decision on the mandatory online process. The district magistrate had written to the state government in October itself to allow offline process, but there has been no response.Dr. Sharad Lele explaining provisions for Forest villages in the FRA at training in Sheetalpani (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters) Not much luck with offline revision“The lease of most of the people in our village is yet to be amended… Van Mitra portal has been reopened, and officials are now forcing them to apply online only,” alleges Bigari Singh (32), a Baiga tribal of Sheetalpani.Bigari has been quite lucky in his second attempt. He filed a forest rights claim for 1.99 hectares in 2008. “Our claim got accepted the next year, but the forest department team destroyed half of my crop one day. It was through them that we came to know that our lease was only for 0.32 hectare,” he says. A revised lease for 1.99 hectares was issued to Bigari on September 25 last year, after he approached ATREE.  Baisakhu Baiga (55) has been into farming at Sheetalpani for years together. “I made a claim for 2.57 hectares in 2006, but got 0.174 hectare on lease in 2009,” says Baisakhu, who has an eight-member family. After much struggle, he filed a claim with ATREE’s help last year and received his revised lease giving rights to the entire 2.57 hectares on September 25.Baisakhu Baiga made a claim for 2.57 hectares in 2006, but got 0.174 hectare on lease in 2009 (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)Making online option a normSunaram Navasiya (47) of Sheetalpani made lease amendment applications several times, but got rejected repeatedly. “We worked jointly with ATREE to prepare maps of every farm and land for three months. The officials told us many times that our applications are correct, but added that their hands are tied,” he explains.“‘You have to apply through Van Mitra portal only; pattas will not be given by applying offline’ is the standard reply we get,” he says.Land title of Nasu Baiga (45) of Pondi has not been amended despite making an application. “Officials are insisting on online application,” Nasu laments.A Tribal Affairs Department order of July 13 last year says new applications can also be heard through Van Mitra portal. However, officials have tweaked it to emphasise that claims can only be made online.Mahajan says there was no restriction on offline application as per the order, yet it was discontinued. Also, most of the applications that ATREE deals with require amendments. The portal, on the other hand, hears new and rejected applications only.“It is not easy to get new maps and measurements from the Van Mitra app and portal... This suggests that each field should be measured separately... The satellite map does not work properly... We have informed the forest department and Collector several times,” he says. Different takesJP Sarvate, Divisional Deputy Commissioner, Tribal Affairs Department, Jabalpur, and Assistant Commissioner of Dindori Nilesh Raghuvanshi, admit that only online applications are accepted because Tribal Affairs Department has ordered to hear new applications through Van Mitra portal.  Acknowledging that tribals and ATREE have made him aware of the issues, Dindori District Collector Vikas Mishra tells 101Reporters that he has written to the Principal Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department, on October 25 last year seeking approval of 870 offline claims that have reached the district level committee. “Further action will be taken only after a reply is received,” he says. Tribal Affairs Department Commissioner Sanjeev Singh tells 101Reporters that new applications are also heard through Van Mitra portal and app this time. “Rules allow both offline and online applications. If district officials are forcing tribals to apply online, action should be taken against them. Both fresh and rejected applications are being heard on the portal. For making amendments, applicants should apply offline,” he says. However, tribals claim the offline process is not working. Meanwhile, Satendra Singh, Additional Commissioner, Tribal Affairs Department, informs that 8,144 new claims have been received since the portal reopening. "Work is on to ensure that offline application records are visible online. Once this is complete, we will accept offline applications too." Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - FRC members of Pondi assisting claimants in confirming printed maps of the fields before they get attached to the claim forms (Photo - Sanavver Shafi, 101Reporters)