Dear Reader,

Interior Karnataka’s rain-fed farmlands, once thriving with paddy, millets, pulses, and oilseeds, are being transformed by a dual crisis—erratic rainfall and, ironically, the rapid spread of state-backed solar parks. Built on a land-lease model, the state rents land from owners and sub-leases it to power developers, offering landowners fixed annual payments of up to Rs 30,000 per acre. While this provides a stable alternative to uncertain harvests for the landowners, it signals the quiet exit of traditional farming across the region.

This, in turn, imposes heavy costs on those without land—tenant farmers, shepherds, and women—who lose livelihoods tied to cultivation and grazing. Deprived of work and common resources, these groups bear the burden of the state’s green-energy transition without sharing in its benefits, revealing deep social and economic fault lines in the pursuit of renewable power. The Migration Story reports from Koppal in Karnataka.

The Adivasis of Assam, living and working in the state’s tea gardens for generations, have long suffered neglect and deprivation. Successive governments including at the Centre have committed to their recognition as Scheduled Tribes and increases in wages to compensate for their hard labour and harsh living conditions. Little has been done to improve their lot.

मैं भी भारत editor Shyam Sundar revisited the tea gardens of Bodoland, during the elections to the Territorial Council last week, from where he had reported a decade ago, and finds that despite claims of progress, nothing has changed. The issues facing the tea tribes of the state remain the same—search and yearning for a dignified life, mitigation of their distress, and a plea for justice.

Amidst the recent imbroglio on the stray dog issue, and the Supreme Court’s intervention, an investigation by The Probe reveals severe mistreatment of stray dogs at Delhi's sterilisation centres, particularly in Sector 27, Rohini. The facility, intended for sterilisation and care, has been found violating the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, through illegal captures and mishandling.

Disturbingly, dog skulls and bones were discovered on-site, pointing to severe violations of animal rights norms. The story points out that despite complaints from residents and animal rights advocates, authorities, including the police and the Animal Welfare Board of India, have failed to take action. The story highlights the systemic neglect and lack of accountability in animal welfare enforcement.

In Karnataka, a study by NABARD Consultancy Services, in collaboration with the Karnataka Evaluation and Monitoring Authority, a government department, has revealed that the state faces a severe water crisis, with only three of its 31 districts designated as “water safe.” Eight districts face acute scarcity, and 20 are “water-deficient.” Of the state’s 6.6 crore people, only 50 lakh enjoy water security, leaving 5.6 crore vulnerable. Many costly water projects have failed on the ground, groundwater is rampantly over-exploited and contaminated, and even river-rich districts face shortages. Experts warn that poor governance and reliance on large projects over traditional systems have worsened the crisis. The File reports.

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

Warmly,

Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF