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Inside Bengaluru’s Powerlooms: Migrant Lives Running on Shifts and Dust
Working up to 12 hours a day for meagre wages, labourers from Bihar, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh operate looms in Bengaluru. But behind every metre of fabric lies a story of exploitation — unsafe working conditions, long shifts, and lives spent in debt and silence. Miriam Rachel Mathew Karuna Sarasuwathi Kumarappan Grishma Mate Lavanya Nandi Mugdha Mathur Deekshith R Pai

Miriam Rachel Mathew & Karuna Sarasuwathi Kumarappan & Grishma Mate & Lavanya Nandi & Mugdha Mathur & Deekshith R Pai
Oct 301 min read


Understanding migration through public datasets
Understanding India’s migration patterns is critical but a re there any systematic ways to measure and record the counts, reasons, destinations, and timing of movement to understand migration patterns? And why should citizens and governments care? Yashita Singh Migrant women working and living in a construction site in Bengaluru. Pic credit: Yashita Singh In India, migration is impossible to ignore and has been part of our culture . While the Census says most migration is due

Yashita Singh
Oct 306 min read


‘Missed Opportunity’: Why a polluted Indian town awaits a thermal plant’s revival
The closure of a thermal plant disrupted small businesses in Odisha’s Talcher, serving as a cautionary tale for what lies ahead for regions dependent on fossil fuels if India doesn’t start work on a post-coal future now Roli Srivastava The shuttered storefronts near the gate of the thermal plant that shut down in 2021, in Talcher, Odisha. Roli Srivastava/The Migration Story TALCHER, Odisha: Roadside shops selling steaming hot chai and samosas were among the first to down thei

Roli Srivastava
Oct 309 min read


‘We will develop our forest villages’: Adivasis in Odisha’s forests say no to relocation and forced migration
Tribal villages in Similipal Tiger Reserve have for decades been relocated outside the reserve to protect its wildlife, but 43 gram sabhas are opposing these evictions and demanding development Nidhi Jamwal “In our village in the forest, we were kings,” recalls Arjun Murmu, whose family had to relocate outside the Similipal Tiger Reserve’s core area. Nidhi Jamwal/The Migration Story SIMILIPAL TIGER RESERVE, Odisha: “Is it possible to go back to our village in the forest?” as

Nidhi Jamwal
Oct 289 min read


Killing fish, choking livelihoods: the scourge of plastic
Increasing plastic pollution in the sea has added to the many challenges faced by traditional fishers, forcing them to migrate from a Nature-based livelihood to daily-wage and blue-collar jobs Ravleen Kaur Varsha Singh Jisha Elizabeth Nandkumar Pawar casting his net in the Thane Creek, Navi Mumbai Pic Courtesy: NandKumar Pawar MUMBAI, Maharashtra: ‘Galyat saakli sonyachi, hi pori konachi’ goes a foot-tapping Hindi film chartbuster from 1991, which feature the Koli fishing

Ravleen Kaur, Varsha Singh, Jisha Elizabeth
Oct 2410 min read
Call for Applications: Media Workshop on Reporting on conservation and Human-Wildlife Interactions
Human-wildlife conflicts are intensifying globally. In the world’s most populous nation, managing the overlapping pressures of population growth, extreme weather, energy transition, and shifting wildlife patterns has never been more urgent. These challenges demand strategic and nuanced conservation measures. The Migration Story and Climate Narrative Hub anchored by Dasra are organizing a two-day, in-person workshop for regional journalists in Nagpur that seeks to strengthen c
Divya S
Oct 242 min read


From migrant worker to medical student: a tribal boy from Odisha scripts history
Shubham Sabar was working at a construction site in Bengaluru when he learned he had cracked NEET exam. As he prepares to join the medical college in Odisha, the 19-year-old's family celebrates, but also worries about the years ahead without his income Rakhi Ghosh

Rakshi Gosh
Oct 241 min read


The Story Behind 'Homebound'
Journalist-writer Basharat Peer's op-ed in New York Times in 2020 inspired the film Homebound, which is now India's official entry to the Oscars. On this podcast he talks about his connection with the story and the families of the two friends, now immortalised on the big screen Roli Srivastava

Roli Srivastava
Oct 241 min read


'Jeans Jihad': How communal politics pushed UP's migrant tailors out of Delhi
Over 200 factories in Khayala in West Delhi have shut and about 15,000 migrant workers have lost work following allegations of them being illegal Bangaldeshi migrants and Rohingyas. Omair Farooq Vipul Kumar

Omair Farooq, Vipul Kumar
Oct 141 min read


‘Karam reminds us of who we are’: A festival helps Bengaluru’s Adivasi migrants feel at home
More than 1,000 migrant workers gather together every year in Bengaluru for a harvest festival that celebrates their Adivasi culture and helps them forget about their hardships for a while Rosey Mukherjee Women from the Oraon tribe dance to the beat of a drum to celebrate the Karam festival at St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru. Rosey Mukherjee/The Migration Story BENGALURU, Karnataka: For David Baxla, the harvest festival of Karam is not just a celebration – it is a connecti

Rosey Mukherjee
Oct 147 min read


The Girl on the Flyover
A chance interaction with a small child on a rainy evening has a researcher weigh in on challenges of survival and the lived reality of...

Dr Madhusudan Nag
Oct 85 min read


Uncertainty awaits migrant workers in the ‘Manchester of India’
Bhiwandi’s powerloom sector, previously battered by demonetisation, GST and Covid, could take another beating from the U.S. tariffs, which is worrying migrant workers and factory owners Hepzi Anthony Girijesh Prajapati, 25, from U.P.’s Gorakhpur district, hopes he can save enough money from working in Bhiwandi and eventually move to Dubai. Rukmani Pujari/The Migration Story BHIWANDI, Maharashtra: This city of powerloom factories wasn’t Qadir Sheikh’s first choice. He had wo

Hepzi Anthony
Oct 810 min read


Migrants return home as Diamond City loses lustre
Thousands of diamond workers have left Surat as the processing hub grapples with sanctions on Russia, falling exports, and U.S. tariffs....
Bansari Kamdar
Sep 264 min read


The Quiet Exit of Rain-fed Farming
Rain-fed farming has traditionally escaped policy and funding attention, though it engages more than 60% of India’s farmers. In...

Bhargavi S Rao
Sep 229 min read


Rains, recession, automation lead to job drought at Ahmedabad’s labour nakas
Even as thousands of informal-sector workers struggle amid the construction slowdown in Gujarat, the government spent less than 20% of...
Bansari Kamdar
Sep 197 min read


AI’s hidden thirst: the water and power cost of data centres
Data centres worldwide consume vast amounts of electricity and water, potentially straining resources. With AI’s growth, the footprint is...

Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar
Sep 155 min read


Not so clean: Why workers are leaving India’s green energy projects
Many young migrant workers are signing up to construct renewable energy parks in India, but wage delays and lack of amenities is forcing...
Anuradha Nagaraj
Sep 911 min read


Not so sweet: From "remedy" for workers to labour exploitation in the sugar sector
Archana Kotecha, founder and CEO of The Remedy Project discusses the ways in which global supply chains are linked with abusive working...

Namrata Raju
Sep 51 min read


Meet Rajasthan’s Migrant Families Who Shape Ganpati idols
Idol makers from the Mogiya community from Kumbhalgarh in Rajasthan migrate to Pune every year to sculpt idols for Ganesh Chaturthi....
Stephin Thomas
Sep 51 min read


Laboured resilience: Decades of migration builds a new future for a once-impoverished Odisha village
Workers ensure a flow of funds home to Kalahandi from Kerala, transforming lives of their families, with many aiming to save enough to...

Purusottam Thakur
Aug 2913 min read

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