[{"postImg":{"cover":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/826*532/101RPT3180190/2.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/826*532/101RPT3180190/2.jpg"},"largeCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/724*425/101RPT3180190/2.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/724*425/101RPT3180190/2.jpg"},"smallCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/333*138/101RPT3180190/2.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/333*138/101RPT3180190/2.jpg"},"metatags":{"whatsappUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/300*200/101RPT3180190/2.jpg","facebookUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/1200*630/101RPT3180190/2.jpg","twitterUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/6/4096*4096/101RPT3180190/2.jpg"}},"_id":"6a1d999d60f4c2392de041a1","postId":"101RPT3180190","postTitle":"When the clowns came to school: How Wayanad's children healed after the landslide","postDate":"2026-06-01T14:39:25+05:30","content":"

Nearly two years after the Wayanad disaster killed 298 people, teachers, counsellors and artists helped young survivors confront grief, trauma and loss.

Wayanad, Kerala: The sun had not yet come out when Mridula (13) found herself wading through floodwater, slush, and boulders, desperately searching for higher ground in the dark. She was in Vellarmala, a quiet hill village in Kerala's Wayanad district, nestled deep in the Western Ghats, and the mountain around her was collapsing. Then, out of the darkness, a wild elephant appeared directly in her path. Behind her, the landslide. In front, the animal. Somehow, she made it through both.

That night — July 30, 2024 — two catastrophic landslides tore through the villages of Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Vellarmala in Meppadi panchayat, killing 298 people. Among them, 32 were Mridula's schoolmates from Vellarmala Government High School.

Almost two years later, Mridula stands holding a trophy for receiving an A grade at the Kerala State School Youth Festival for Vanchipattu, a traditional oarsman's folk song. Thirty-two of her classmates did not make it this far.

Thirteen-year-old landslide survivors holds a youth festival trophy they won ( Photo - Rajendran K, 101Reporters ) \n

But for the children of Vellarmala Government High School, surviving the landslide was only half the battle. The other half played out in silence: in sleepless nights, lost appetites, and classrooms where, as one teacher put it, it was hard to find a single smiling face. How a school community in Wayanad pulled its youngest survivors back from the edge, and what it took, is a story that still haunts Kerala.

Picking up the pieces

The morning after the landslide, MP Dileepkumar, a teacher at Government High School Meppadi, was among the first to arrive at the school, the nearest shelter for the displaced.

\"It was horrific to see the aftermath… in many cases, the teachers identified the students' bodies. The school community suffered a huge loss. Many of our children narrowly escaped… there were others who became orphans,\" he told 101Reporters.

\"Such trauma stays with you for a long time. Our biggest challenge was how to ease this trauma from the young minds. All our students were dealing with grief. Benches on which they used to sit and study were being used to conduct their friends' postmortem examination. It is difficult to imagine what they were going through,\" he added.

While the immediate response brought relief in the form of shelter, healthcare and financial aid, a less visible crisis was also unfolding: the toll on mental health.

Pictures of the students who lost their lives in the flood ( Photo - Rajendran K, 101Reporters ) \n

“It is also true that the effect on mental health would not be visible immediately…many times trauma responses manifest after many days or months, and in different ways for different people,\" said Dr TM Shibukumar, psychologist at Government Medical College Calicut.

Take for example the case of a 10-year-old girl who had a narrow escape. Her father told 101Reporters that the girl used to think that the disaster did not actually take place but was all a dream. \"She was not ready to accept that it is the reality,\" he said. \"Only after seeing photographs of her deceased friends did she realise that it actually happened.\"

More than medicine

The Kerala State Mental Health Programme mobilised 150 counsellors and psychiatrists across 17 relief camps, conducting over 2,000 individual and 401 group counselling sessions. The Wayanad District Child Protection Unit ran a dedicated programme called Kuttiyidam, creating safe spaces for play and creative activities in 15 relief camps, attracting an average of 265 children daily.

\"Periodic counselling and treatments were provided for one year, at their doorsteps. Each and every child received individual care,\" said Dr Vrijesh, who was actively involved as a counsellor in the aftermath.

But the real test came when the school reopened three months later. \"It was difficult to find a single smiling face among the students,\" recalled Unnikrishnan Master, a teacher at Vellarmala High School who was also acting headmaster when the landslides struck. An artist and musician, he understood something the clinical response could not fully address. \"As an artist, I know the power of art,\" he said. \"We had to find a new way.\"

When the clowns came in

Master's first move was to call in his artist friends. Two theatre personalities from Pathanamthitta, Manoj Suni and KS Binu, arrived at the school dressed up as clowns. They went class to class. They danced, they played, they pulled children into the performance. Classrooms that had sat under a pall of silence turned loud.

“A student in the 10th standard who had lost his mother and sister hugged me with great laughter after our performance,\" Suni said. \"I lost my control and wept. Maybe it was the first time a clown, who is supposed to always be laughed at, broke down to tears.\"

Theatre artists Manoj Suni and and KS Binu dressed as a clown to bring laughter children ( Photo - Rajendran K, 101Reporters ) \n

The clowns were followed by S Radhakrishnan, a teacher from Alapuzha, who came with simple scientific experiments, mathematical puzzles and craft. His sessions did not just engage children in school, they gave them something to carry home.

Bijulal (name changed), whose son had lost several close friends in the landslide had become withdrawn after the disaster. Then one day he asked for a bundle of coloured paper.

“He had no appetite and would always sleep…when he asked me to buy the coloured paper I bought it immediately. He later made a beautiful Christmas Star with the papers,” Bijulal said. “This was a turning point. It was the beginning. He found enthusiasm in paper craft. Sooner than later he went back to being himself.”

But perhaps the most striking moment came on a stage in Thiruvananthapuram. The students of Vellarmala performed a drama, Vellapokkatil — In the Flood — at the Kerala State School Youth Festival 2024. All seven actors were survivors of the landslide. The play, based on a story by Malayalam writer Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai about the suffering of humans and animals during a flood, was uncomfortably close to what they had lived through.

\"I was afraid he would break down on stage because it was a real depiction of the trauma he had faced,\" said the father of one of the child actors. \"On the contrary, he really enjoyed it. He became more joyous. It really changed his life.\"

Back to class

In 2025 and 2026 every single student in Vellarmala Government High School's 10th grade passed the SSLC examination.

\"Children in Vellarmala have become an icon of how to overcome mental trauma after a disaster,\" said V Sivankutty, former Kerala's Education Minister. \"It was made possible only due to the wholehearted togetherness of teachers, parents and the entire community.\"

Abdul Muneer, the school's headmaster, said, \"All 22 teachers have been working round the clock, irrespective of their personal matters…That is also a reason for our success.\"

Mridula, who was preparing for her next examination, said, \"I am not alone. Not only my family but also my villagers, teachers and many people I couldn't even recognise have firmly stood with me,\" she said. \"Now I am thinking of scoring good marks and winning more prizes.\"

This story was produced as a part of 101Reporters Climate Change Reporting Grant

Cover Image - Young children sitting in the back of a vehicle in Wayanad ( Photo - Rajendran K, 101Reporters )

","postTitleURL":"When_the_clowns_came_to_school_How_Wayanads_children_healed_after_the_landslide","mainCat":["health"]},{"postImg":{"cover":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/826*532/101RPT3023891/2.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/826*532/101RPT3023891/2.jpg"},"largeCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/724*425/101RPT3023891/2.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/724*425/101RPT3023891/2.jpg"},"smallCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/333*138/101RPT3023891/2.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/333*138/101RPT3023891/2.jpg"},"metatags":{"whatsappUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/300*200/101RPT3023891/2.jpg","facebookUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/1200*630/101RPT3023891/2.jpg","twitterUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2026/2/4096*4096/101RPT3023891/2.jpg"}},"_id":"6981c3b191fd3313c970ef56","postId":"101RPT3023891","postTitle":"Tribal women in Kerala’s Attapadi are worried about VB-G RAM-G","postDate":"2026-02-03T09:45:21+05:30","content":"

As the Centre plans to replace MGNREGA, tribal women in Attapadi worry about losing the work, wages and security the scheme brought them.

Palakkad, Kerala: Kali (54) a tribal woman from Agali village in Kerala’s Attapadi region, says she is proud to be a “Thozhilurappukari”—a worker under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

For nearly two decades, the job guarantee scheme has been her primary source of income, offering steady work, predictable and dignified wages, and a rare sense of security in a region marked by poverty and land alienation.

That security is now under threat.

The Union government is set to replace MGNREGA with a new law—the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM-G Act. While the Centre has described the proposed law as an expansion of rural employment, tribal workers and officials in Attapadi fear it will dismantle the fragile livelihood system that sustains some of Kerala’s most marginalised communities.

“I think once the new law is implemented, it leaves me no other option but to rear black goats,” Kali said, referring to a heat-resistant breed traditionally reared by tribal women in this hilly region.

But that option no longer exists. Grazing lands have steadily shrunk, large-scale livestock farmers have moved in, and frequent wild elephant incursions have made forest-dependent livelihoods increasingly unsafe.

“At least twice a week, wild elephants stray into our hamlets,” said Bhagavathy, also a resident of Agali village. “They have killed people and animals. Grazing areas are fenced off. For more than a decade now, rearing black goats has not been a reliable livelihood.”

In 2025 alone, five tribal residents of Attapadi were trampled to death by elephants. At the same time, agricultural mechanisation has eliminated most farm labour, leaving tribal women—once dependent on seasonal agricultural work—with few alternatives outside state-backed employment schemes.

For decades, tribal families in Attapadi have survived on a combination of two job guarantee programmes that together ensure up to 200 days of work a year: 100 days under MGNREGA and another 100 days under Kerala’s Tribal Plus scheme, launched in 2018. The proposed replacement of MGNREGA has triggered widespread anxiety that this safety net, credited with raising wages, reducing exploitation and transforming women’s lives, could unravel.

For decades, tribal families in Attapadi have survived on a combination of two job guarantee programmes (Photo - Rajendran K, 101Reporters)

What’s changing

The VB-G RAM-G Act introduces several provisions that worry tribal workers and administrators in Attapadi. The most significant is a 60-day agricultural blackout period. Section 6(1) of the new Act mandates that no work will be commenced or executed under this Act during peak agricultural seasons. State governments must designate 60 days, covering sowing and harvesting seasons, during which job guarantee work will be halted.

In Attapadi, the peak agricultural season runs from June to August during the southwest monsoon. George Joseph, an economist, pointed to a fundamental flaw in this provision. “In the Kerala context, stalling work during the harvest season will not improve labour availability,” he said. “Most agricultural work is now done by machines instead of humans, leaving MGNREGA workers jobless.”

When MGNREGA was streamlined in 2005, its framers recognised that suspending work during the farming season would strip workers of job security and force them into exploitative, low-paid farm labour, he said. The new law reverses this protection.

The cost-sharing formula has also changed. MGNREGA’s 90:10 funding ratio between the Centre and states shifts to 60:40 under VB-G RAM-G. At a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on December 18, Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal said the state would need to spend approximately Rs 3,000 crore more annually to implement the new scheme.

Jiju P Alex, a member of the Kerala State Planning Board, explained that under VB-G RAM-G, a portion of the Centre’s financial responsibility is being transferred to states already under severe fiscal stress. “Kerala will incur an additional, unaffordable burden due to the 40% state share,” he said.

Kerala’s share of central tax devolution has declined from 3.8% under the 10th Finance Commission to 2.38% under the 16th. A state that relies heavily on the service sector and tourism for revenue is grappling with a financial crunch, even as this year’s budget allocates Rs 77,335.69 crore, 32.24% of total expenditure, for social services.

The new law also centralises decision-making. Under MGNREGA, village panchayats are responsible for identifying projects suited to local socio-economic and environmental conditions. Under VB-G RAM-G, this authority is withdrawn. Panchayats are reduced to facilitators, while project selection is routed through the Central government’s PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

Economist K Mohankumar, Director of the Public Policy Research Institute, questioned the promise of providing 125 days of employment under VB-G RAM-G, compared to 100 days under MGNREGA. “Today, nowhere in India are even 100 days of work being provided under MGNREGA,” he said. “Then how will states provide 125 days under the new law? With increased financial burden, the scheme becomes unaffordable and impracticable.”

State governments must designate 60 days, covering sowing and harvesting seasons, during which job guarantee work will be halted (Photo - Rajendran K, 101Reporters)

What’s at stake

Attapadi spans 745 sq km across three panchayats: Agali, Pudur and Sholayur. Over the past 50 years, its tribal population has declined from 91% to 41%.

In the 2024-25 financial year, 4,006 tribal families in Attapadi received a total of 5,78,500 employment days, averaging 144.4 days per family. Of these, 158 families received the full 200 days, 100 each under MGNREGA and Kerala Tribal Plus, according to Joseph K Andrews, assistant engineer in charge of Tribal Plus and NREGA in Agali.

Women make up an overwhelming majority of beneficiaries: 11,105 of the 11,833 workers, 93.85%, are women. The Kerala government has allocated Rs 41 crore for Tribal Plus in 2025-26. The state budget has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for MGNREGA, though officials say this amount is inadequate.

Chindi, 61, from Pudur village, describes the shift. Before MGNREGA, tribal women relied on black goat rearing and agricultural labour for meagre wages. They were unorganised and vulnerable to exploitation. “Tribal Plus was a turning point,” she said. “Today I earn better wages. I can provide better food and education for my grandchildren.”

Chaghi, 63, from Agali, recalls that before February 5, 2006, when MGNREGA began in Attapadi, tribal workers earned Rs 50 or Rs 60 a day on the farms of wealthy landowners. “Once MGNREGA came, wages increased to over Rs 125,” she said. “Now we earn Rs 366 a day under NREGA and Tribal Plus for around 200 days a year. We no longer have to beg before anyone.”

The economic impact is stark. Before MGNREGA, Chindi’s monthly income was around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. Today, it ranges between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000. Agricultural wages in Attapadi are currently higher, Rs 400-Rs 500 for women and Rs 800-Rs 900 for men, but such work is available for far fewer days.

Danya Raman, a social activist working with Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, said MGNREGA significantly increased wages, working days and women’s autonomy. Attapadi, she noted, is a hilly region dominated by the Irula, Muduga and Kurumba tribes and remains among the most underdeveloped areas of Kerala.

The literacy rate among tribal communities stands at 74.6%, with most people under 40 educated. “But what will uneducated women do?” Danya asked. “If Tribal Plus collapses, they won’t even have money to buy a packet of milk.” She warned that the 60-day agricultural blackout will lead to widespread unemployment, pushing women back into exploitative labour.

Uncertain future

The fate of Kerala’s additional 100-day employment scheme remains unclear under the new law. “We are requesting the central government to repeal VB-G RAM-G and reinstate MGNREGA,” Balagopal said after presenting the budget. “The state cannot afford the additional financial burden.”

Mohankumar is unequivocal. “At any cost, Tribal Plus must continue,” he said. “Otherwise, the livelihoods of tribal women will be severely affected. But that is not possible without central support.”

M Rajan, Palakkad district secretary of Adivasi Kshema Samithi, said mechanisation has already replaced workers across sectors. “When MGNREGA and Tribal Plus are stopped, tribal people will once again have to queue up before landlords for the lowest wages,” he said. “We will continue to agitate until this law is withdrawn.”

R Raviraj, state programme officer for MGNREGA in Kerala, said the government is awaiting clarity. “VB-G RAM-G has not yet been implemented, and no date has been announced. Even after notification, Kerala will have a six-month window before implementation,” he said.

O Kelu, Kerala’s minister for tribal development, warned that the collapse of Tribal Plus would be disastrous. “We will explore all possible options to ensure its continuation,” he said.

For now, Attapadi’s tribal workers continue their daily routines. Malli, 50, said: “Only because of job guarantee schemes did I open a bank account and get a mobile phone. If the work stops, my entire life will once again revolve around black goats.”

Cover photo - Tribal workers and officials in Attapadi fear that VB-G RAM-G will dismantle the fragile livelihood system that sustains some of Kerala’s most marginalised communities (Photo- Rajendran K, 101Reporters)

","postTitleURL":"Tribal_women_in_Keralas_Attapadi_are_worried_about_VBG_RAMG","mainCat":["civic"]},{"postImg":{"cover":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/826*532/101RPT1430355/postpartum.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/826*532/101RPT1430355/postpartum.jpg"},"largeCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/724*425/101RPT1430355/postpartum.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/724*425/101RPT1430355/postpartum.jpg"},"smallCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/333*138/101RPT1430355/postpartum.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/333*138/101RPT1430355/postpartum.jpg"},"metatags":{"whatsappUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/300*200/101RPT1430355/postpartum.jpg","facebookUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/1200*630/101RPT1430355/postpartum.jpg","twitterUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/9/4096*4096/101RPT1430355/postpartum.jpg"}},"_id":"6315e84520b146074f50ae41","postId":"101RPT1430355","postTitle":"Kerala village seeks to set an example in postpartum care","postDate":"2022-09-05T12:15:19+05:30","content":"

Disclaimer: Reader discretion is advised as the story involves accounts of postpartum depression

Post-delivery stress among\nnew mothers is often overlooked, though it can trigger suicides or infant\nkillings in severe cases. A Kudumbasree initiative in Thiruvananthapuram\ndistrict’s Nanniyode panchayat seeks to remind women that they are not alone.

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: It shook the collective conscience of the society when a 25-year-old woman from\nKundara in Kollam district of Kerala strangled her baby to death on March 9\nlast year. The incident triggered social workers to brainstorm on ways to\nprevent such cases in future.

Aged just over three months, the baby\ngirl was not a victim of female infanticide, but postpartum\nstress. \"Baby blues are common among new mothers. Support from family and friends helps a lot,\" said psychologist Aswathy FS, who formerly worked with the Women and Child division of Karuna Sai Mental Health Centre.

\"However, postpartum\ndepression can cause serious issues if the mother does not get proper\ncounselling and medicine. This can cause postpartum psychosis, where the mother\nreaches a state of hallucination leading to incidents like suicide and infant\nkillings.”

The Kundara incident set Kudumbasree\n(a government initiative to empower women) circles in the state capital\nThiruvananthapuram abuzz. Divya Vijayan V and Surya S, who work\nas service provider and counsellor, respectively, at the Snehitha gender help desk of Kudumbasree, were tasked with the mission to find a solution.

Based on their inputs, the Kudumbasree\nThiruvananthapuram District Mission launched ‘For You, Mom’ programme in April last\nyear. Psychologist Aswathy offers counselling under the programme.

Nanniyode village panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram was the first to\nimplement the programme, with the support of the National Rural Livelihood\nMission and state health department.

Speaking to 101Reporters, Divya Vijayan said it was a different challenge to begin with, as most women were\nreluctant to share their woes, especially relating to pregnancy and their\nimmediate family members. “However, we eventually gained their trust and\ncreated an inseparable bond with them. We pledge that no baby would be\nstrangled to death by a depressed mother.”

Kudumbasree workers mostly deal with postpartum stress among the poor and\nthose facing domestic issues. Very few mothers from economically weaker sections are able to get\nfamily support, medical care and counselling during the postpartum period. To\nmake matters worse, people in rural areas think behavioural changes are normal soon\nafter delivery.

However, the Kundara incident has brought to light the severity of\npostpartum stress. Some\nof the symptoms to watch out for are depressed mood, excessive crying, loss of\nappetite or eating too much, inability to sleep, intense irritability and\nanger, hopelessness, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

Solace at doorstep

Sixteen months after the programme’s launch, AK Akhila (25) stood proudly in front of the Gender Resource Centre (GRC) at Nanniyode with\nher 10-month-old baby girl. She received continuous online counselling from the\ncentre during her pregnancy and postpartum period.

Altogether, 15 women from Alambara, Puliyur and Kallipara\nwards of Nanniyode panchayat received counselling in the initial batch.

“I got unflinching support from my husband and family, both before\nand after my delivery. Like any other woman, I was very anxious. However,\nperiodic online counselling sessions gave me immense courage, all thanks to the\nKudumbasree workers who made me feel\nlike their own sister,” Akhila told 101Reporters.

At first, a questionnaire prepared by mental health experts was\ngiven to all 15 women. From their answers, the social workers identified three cases\nof postpartum depression, with one showing symptoms of severe depression.

On condition of anonymity, one of the women from the identified\ngroup told 101Reporters that she\nsuffered from uncontrollable anxiety. “I felt my baby was about to die, even\nthough my family and doctors repeatedly tried to convince me that the baby was\nalright. I lost appetite and sleep, and was unable to control my anger also.”

Akhila stands proudly in front of the Gender Resource Centre (GRC) at Nanniyode with her 10-month-old baby girl (Photo: Rajendran K)

Luckily, the ‘For You, Mom’ programme helped her overcome stress. “Even\nnow, I receive phone calls from the GRC at least twice a month, enquiring about\nmy well-being. And my baby is healthy and fine,” she said.

Another woman cited financial difficulties as the reason for her\npostpartum depression. “In\nthe wake of COVID-19, my husband lost his job. I was pregnant then. I was under\nrelentless stress, always worrying how I would raise the child. I cannot express\nthe pain I suffered after the most difficult days of pregnancy. But I\ngot through everything with the kind words of my sisters from the GRC,” she\ntold 101Reporters.

The three women identified with postpartum depression received individual\npsychological counselling, while the one with severe depression got special\nmedical treatment. That apart, all the 15 received six online counselling\nsessions to ensure they do not slip into depression.

“COVID-19 was at its peak then. Most of the identified women\nbelonged to poor rural backgrounds, and were very unfamiliar with digital\ntools. With repeated interventions, all of them patiently listened to the\nclasses using their mobile phones. They shared their sorrows and miseries. In\nthe later stage, many of their family members also attended enthusiastically,”\nsaid Kudumbasree community counselling\neducator G Mallika.

Reaching out to more women

The ‘For You, Mom’ entered its second stage on July 25 this year,\nwith 23 women joining for online sessions at the Nanniyode GRC. Nine other GRCs\nin Thiruvananthapuram district also took up the programme.

A survey conducted by the Nanniyode GRC has found that various\nsocial issues such as alcoholism and drug abuse of husbands stress out women during\npregnancy and postpartum stages. “Apart from providing support to bring down postpartum stress, the\nroot cause for the same should be identified and addressed,” said psychologist\nAswathy.

A Thiruvananthapuram native aged 25, who attempted suicide twice\nduring her postpartum period, shared her harrowing experience. “During my pregnancy and postpartum\nperiod, I did not receive any support from my family. At the same time, I\noccasionally faced domestic violence from my husband, a chronic alcoholic and drug\naddict. After my delivery, I experienced hallucinations and was afraid that my\nbaby girl would be killed by him,” said the woman, seeking anonymity.

After the second suicide attempt, the woman was taken to her\nparental home and given psychiatric treatment.

“The programme has already created a great impact in our village.\nWe want to continue the project with more participation. In fact, the entire\nstate should adopt it. No woman should bear the brunt of postpartum\ndepression,” said Nanniyode village panchayat president Shylaja Rajeevan.

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Edited by\nSharad Akavoor

The cover image is for representational purpose (Photo - Amit Ranjan/Unsplash)

","postTitleURL":"Kerala_village_seeks_to_set_an_example_in_postpartum_care","mainCat":["health"]},{"postImg":{"cover":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/826*532/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/826*532/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.jpg"},"largeCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/724*425/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/724*425/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.jpg"},"smallCard":{"webp":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/333*138/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.webp","original":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/333*138/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.jpg"},"metatags":{"whatsappUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/300*200/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.jpg","facebookUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/1200*630/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.jpg","twitterUrl":"https://assets.ramen.101reporters.com/imgs/2022/6/4096*4096/101RPT1378613/main_image_boar.jpg"}},"_id":"62b2dee89038187d416f64f2","postId":"101RPT1378613","postTitle":"Do wild boar in Kerala get to live? Panchayats get the power to decide","postDate":"2022-06-22T09:21:26+05:30","content":"

EP Yohannan and his son Raju, along with panchayat members and officers, pose with the carcass of the first wild boar killed under the new Kerala government rules (Photo: Ravi)

After failing to get the union government to declare wild boar as 'vermin', the state government allowed panchayats to authorise their culling whenever they venture into farms—a move that many believe doesn't tackle the root cause of the issue.

Kozhikode, Kerala: On\nJune 1, around 10.30 pm, EP Raju, a licensed gunner\nempanelled with the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department, shot down a wild boar that had\nentered his father EP Yohannan’s farm in Kodancherry village in Kozhikode district — this was\nthe first recorded incident of culling after the department empowered local self-governments to cull wild boar to curb their\ngrowing menace.

“I’m\nthankful to Kodancherry panchayat president Alex Thomas for granting me the requisite\npermission. I request all farmers to take quick action, otherwise, no crop will\nsurvive in any village located on the fringes of the forest,” said 94-year-old Yohannan.

Farmers who suspect that wild boar are attacking their farm now need to seek permission from the panchayat\npresident, who can depute a licenced\ngunman to cull the animal. Earlier, the farmer had to procure this permission\nfrom the forest department, but the procedure was\ncumbersome and resulted in inordinate delay.

While\nRaju's family celebrated the licensed killing of the boar, there's no respite for Thomas, as\nabout 6,000 of the 9,000 households in his jurisdiction are incurring huge\nlosses in agriculture due to wild boar attacks.

“There\nare hundreds of boar here, and we have only five licenced gunmen to tackle them. I'm worried the farmers in my village will continue to incur more losses,” said Thomas. Under the new rules, he is the honorary Chief Wildlife Warden with the same powers as State Chief Wild Warden.

Panchayat heads like Thomas will see a need for more licenced gunmen, and already district collector offices, which have the authority to\napprove gun licences after obtaining clearances from the police as well as the revenue and forest\ndepartments, are seeing an increase in applications.

On\nMay 25, after issuing an order to empower local bodies with culling rights, Kerala\nMinister of Forests AK Saseendran said, “This is a new experiment; there are\nbound to be some shortcomings. The government is trying to tackle the menace without\nviolating the Wildlife Protection Act.”

A senior forest officer, on condition of anonymity, said they didn't know the exact number of wild boar in Kerala, as no detailed survey had been conducted before the culling orders were issued. The last wild boar census was conducted in Kerala in 2011; it stood at 48,034.

Though the panchayat should bear the cost of culling, in most cases farmers might have to bear the initial costs, which is tough on those whose farms have already\nbeen affected by boar attacks, the forest officer added. \"To avoid poaching, farmers are even forbidden from selling the meat after the kill. We need to wait for at least a year before\nreceiving feedback and rework the guidelines accordingly.”

Earlier,\nfarmers dug trenches, erected walls and even resorted to using poison, electric traps\nand illegal shooting to control the menace. This often caused untoward\naccidents. For instance, on May 21, in Vithura gram panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram district, 57-year-old Selvaraj was electrocuted by\nan electric fence.

“Farmers\nare not resorting to illegal means anymore. I have already received more than\n150 applications for culling rights,” said VS Baburaj, president of Vithura gram panchayat.

The\npanchayats intend to expedite the otherwise exhausting process of\ngranting permission and connecting farmers with licenced gunmen. The applications are approved at the president’s discretion.

These applications give each farmer the standing right to ask for the culling of boar that enter their farms after they are verified as genuine by the panchayat. After this, the panchayat president can grant permission even over a phone call, deputing an available gunman for the task. Depending on the particular farmer's financial standing, the panchayat may or may not accept the responsibility of paying the gunmen, who are compensated to the tune of Rs 1000 per culling.

$\"\"$

Photo: Flickr

Wild boar – a vermin or not?

In the past five years, wild boar attacks caused 21 deaths and 515 injuries among people. So far, the Kerala government has received 10,700 applications from farmers seeking compensation for the\ndamages.

The\ncompensation process, however, is laggard. According to a Kerala forest\ndepartment official, around Rs 5 crore has been disbursed as compensation\nfor crop loss against wild boar attacks in 2020-2021; Rs 3.53 crore in\n2019-20; and Rs 4.6 crore in 2018-19.

According to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the culling of a wild boar is a criminal offence, involving three years imprisonment\nso farmers are in a dilemma about the legality of culling despite panchayat\nsanctions.

With the rise in man-animal conflicts, farmer’s organisations have been pressuring the Centre\nto declare wild boar as vermin.

\"There\nare strict guidelines for declaring an animal 'vermin'. They cannot be\ndeclared vermin unless they’re dangerous across the country, which wild boar are not,” said Bhupendra Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on\nthe sideline of the Anil Agarwal Annual Environmental Dialogue conducted\nby the Centre for Science and Environment in Nimli, Rajasthan. This was before the May 25 announcement in Kerala. He\nadded that he was aware of the situation in Kerala, but declaring boar vermin would make them vulnerable to poaching across India.

According to P Basheer, a forest officer from Edathara sector in Kozhikode, who had overseen the first culling operation in Kodancherry village: “On the pretext of culling to save life and crop, hunting shouldn’t be permitted. We are duty-bound to ensure that after the culling, the carcass is buried properly.”

\n\n

Culling not a panacea

A section of\nenvironmentalists and animal rights activists, including Maneka Gandhi, has,\nhowever, protested this move by the Kerala government.

“Wild boar\nis the only species that consumes bracken, an undergrowth that prevents\nseedlings from growing by blocking sunlight in forest,\" Gandhi explained. \"Besides, its habit of\nconstantly scratching the forest floor clears the ground for fresh growth. The demand\nto cull wild boar was made by hunters and others who stood to gain monetarily\nthrough poaching, not by agriculturalists.”

The Kerala forest minister unequivocally denied these allegations, pointing\nout that the decision was aimed at finding a permanent solution for farmers and\npeople residing 0n forest fringes, and that the government wouldn’t allow hunting.

However,\nfarmers claimed the problem was not restricted to wild boar alone. P Vijayalakshmi,\na farm woman in Kulappully village in Palakkad district, said, “I have suffered financial\nlosses of more than Rs 1 lakh in a year due to animal attacks. Not only\nwild boar but also monkeys and peacock have been regularly raiding my crops. I\ncan cull wild boar, but what about the others? Does the law permit culling them, too?”

People living on the fringes of forests have been facing attacks from\nwild elephant, tiger, leopard, monkey, bison and peacock on the regular. According to the Kerala\nForest and Wildlife Department, 1,048 people lost their lives to animal attacks in the\npast decade.

Shrinking\nforests and increasing urbanisation have forced the animals, including wild\nboar, out of the woods. They enter farmlands in search of plantains and\ntapioca. State-controlled culling may not offer any permanent solution unless measures are taken to preserve the forests and fight climate change.

“Water and food scarcity due to the degradation of forests and climate change are the main causes for man-animal\nconflict. Infact, we cannot find a permanent solution without addressing this root cause. But I support culling for the time being because no other option exists for farmers to save their lives and farms,” said Dr VS Vijayan, former chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.

“Culling may bring temporary\nrelief, but it cannot weed out the problem entirely,\" said Vijayalakshmi.

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Edited by Rashmi Guha Ray

","postTitleURL":"Do_wild_boar_in_Kerala_get_to_live_Panchayats_get_the_power_to_decide","mainCat":["environment"]}]