Dear Reader,

The last few weeks have been rife with images of planeloads of ‘illegal’ Indian migrants being deported from the United States. The images of their deportation—chained and traumatised—sparked an uproar over their ill-treatment and dehumanisation. Their return also elicited heart-rending stories of how they fell prey to fraudulent agencies that lured and baited them with the promise of swift and profitable migration. The agencies pocketed significant commissions, and then abandoned them to fend for themselves on foreign shores until the law caught up with them. A familiar story for Indian migrants who are eager but unaware of the pitfalls, and who trust rapacious and dubious agencies in the hope of finding greener pastures.

The Migration Story reports that there is one agency—Kerala State’s Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NoRKA)—that has made a successful effort to mend matters. The story tells us how NoRKA’s training prepares potential migrants for international careers through a structured model on licensing, legal requirements, cultural adaptation, travel arrangements, and professional expectations. The effort has become a ‘model’ for how other Indian states can intervene and educate Indian workers for safe migration.

Dowry deaths in India remain a harsh and brutal reality. Some states are more unequal than others. Bihar with 1,057 fatalities in 2022, has the second-highest number of dowry-related deaths after Uttar Pradesh. Bihar also has the second-highest number of cases registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act, with 3,580 cases filed in the same year. This is against the total of 6,485 dowry deaths that India recorded in 2022 with another 13,479 dowry-related cases registered.

Main Media chronicles the dowry-related deaths of Chandni and Kiran Kumari from Bihar’s Katihar, and the harassment and torture faced by Pinky Begum from Kishanganj, at the hands of her in-laws, to illustrate how a culture of patriarchy, income inequality, limited access to opportunities, and institutional limitations in prevention, have led to this state of affairs.

The Covid-19 pandemic and its lockdowns were disastrous for millions of migrant workers across the country, rendering them unemployed overnight. But in the village of Katsil in Chandauli district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Raju Ansari, a Banarasi sari weaver who lost his job in 2020, sensed an opportunity amid the gloom and doom. Along with his wife, Shakeela Bano, he decided to start weaving carpets and rugs from home, with employees drawn from the village itself.

Their enterprise paid off. Since Katsil is only around 80 kilometres from the international carpet trading city of Bhadohi, their ‘homemade’ carpets have begun to be exported around the world. Self-employment has also meant a change in how workers see themselves. From being regarded as interlopers in cities like Surat or Bengaluru, they are now recognised as expert carpet weavers and artisans in their own right. The start-up, born and raised amid bleakness, is now a template for craftsmen in adjoining areas. Janchowk reports from Chandauli on this happy augury.

After leprosy, lymphatic filariasis—a disease caused by parasitic worms and transmitted by the Culex mosquito—is the world's second-leading cause of physical disability. Around 40% of the world's filariasis patients are in India. This disease, also known as elephantiasis, causes painful swelling and pustules in the hands and feet. With climate change resulting in unseasonal weather and higher temperatures, the breeding period of the transmitting mosquito has lengthened, making a larger population vulnerable, even as filariasis is resurging in areas where it had been declining.

In Madhya Pradesh, as in other parts of the country, filariasis comes with deep social stigma. Patients with the disease not only endure limited mobility—and loss of income—but suffer from social distancing, both self-imposed and societal. The disease is endemic to 12 districts in Madhya Pradesh—of a total of 345 affected districts across India. Ground Report brings you the story from Tikamgarh.

And recognition comes to grantee Ground Report’s co-founder, Pallav Jain, in the form of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication Alumni Association Award (IIMCAA) 2025, for his outstanding contribution to agricultural journalism. The award commends the grantee’s deep reporting on Madhya Pradesh's use of sorted sex semen technology in artificial insemination to curb stray cattle, a joint investigation exposing the impact of fake fungicides on Sehore district farmers, and an analysis of challenges faced by the state’s paddy farmers.

For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.

Warmly,

Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF