Dear Reader,

As the Election Commission of India (ECI) pushed ahead with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, a quieter crisis unfolded across India’s districts and villages. Booth Level Officers (BLOs)—mostly schoolteachers, anganwadi workers, and revenue staff—were tasked with conducting door-to-door verification, collecting data, and uploading it online under tight deadlines. Many worked late into the night, grappling with unfamiliar technology, shifting targets, and the fear of punitive action.

The Red Mike reports many deaths of BLO’s across India - some officers allegedly taking their own lives, citing intense mental pressure; others suffering heart attacks, brain haemorrhages, or sudden collapses while on duty. Families describe relentless calls from supervisors, threats of suspension or filing of FIRs, and a lack of formal training. As scrutiny grew, the ECI extended deadlines and increased honoraria, asserting that the process was on track. On the ground, however, protests by BLOs continued over technical failures and excessive workloads. The Supreme Court has since intervened, calling for reduced pressure and additional staffing—raising questions about how electoral integrity can be pursued without exacting a human toll.

मैं भी भारत goes reporting to a tribal village in the tribal heartland of Jharkhand to witness a sacred Adivasi puja performed atop a hill revered by the Munda community. During their reporting, they met tribal elders who, while marking and celebrating, also voiced their concern that many still perceived them to be ‘primitive’ and had huge misconceptions about the significance of their traditional rituals and ceremonies.

मैं भी भारत also discerns the rising tension and hardening of position between the Adivasi and Kudmi communities. The latter’s demand to move from OBC to ST status has ignited fears among the Adivasis over land safeguards, scarce jobs, and the slow erosion of hard won cultural rights. Amid this fraught backdrop, at the foothills of the holy Marang Buru, the grantee witnesses the pounding drums and swirling colours of the festivities at the crowded village mela, where songs and dances reveal the raw cultural pulse of tribal Jharkhand. The story brings to life the lived realities, faith, and fault lines of Adivasi life.

Days after the Delhi government announced the implementation of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the National Capital Region last week, air pollution continues to deteriorate. The measures—designed to curb emissions—have barred the entry of trucks and light commercial vehicles, suspended construction activity in both the public and private sectors, and shifted schools to online or hybrid modes. As work grinds to a halt, some of the worst affected are Delhi’s estimated 1.3 million construction workers, many of whom have been abruptly left without income and without support, The Migration Story reports.

Construction workers are routinely exposed to hazardous dust from sand, stone, brick, concrete, and mortar—occupational risks that contribute to a high incidence of respiratory illness and long-term health consequences, including increased mortality. Their living conditions offer little relief. Those residing in makeshift on-site shelters face heightened exposure, as contractors often fail to adopt basic safeguards such as spraying water to suppress suspended particulate matter. Workers who are permanent residents of Delhi are typically concentrated in low-income neighbourhoods where Air Quality Index (AQI) levels are consistently higher than in greener areas. Compounding these vulnerabilities is the implementation of new labour codes, which have led to the repeal of the Building and Construction Workers Act, 1996—legislation that is perceived to have mandated safer working conditions across the industry.

The delicate balance between public and private procurement of agricultural produce is once again unfolding in Madhya Pradesh—this time around cotton. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), which procures cotton on behalf of the Government of India and effectively enforces the minimum support price, establishes procurement centres at major agricultural markets across the country on fixed dates each year. With the state offering rates higher than those available from private buyers, farmers are forced into a difficult calculation: sell early to merchants at lower prices while their cotton remains dry, or wait longer in the hope of securing a higher price from the state.

Merchants, meanwhile, complain that inadequate procurement has left them unable to secure sufficient stock to keep cotton mills operational, triggering a cascading impact on employment. Farmers, constrained by narrow agricultural margins, are pushed to assume risks they can scarcely afford. Neither side is satisfied with the current procurement regime: merchants argue that CCI should limit its purchases, while farmers press for greater procurement. As Ground Report documents, these tensions often escalate, with farmers staging protests when their harvest is rejected by CCI, even as state authorities insist that their hands are tied.

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

Warmly,

Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF