Citizens for Justice and Peace
Lockdown impact: A Zardozi artisan vows to never teach his children his craft Part-5 of our on-going series based on CJP's Purvanchal fact-finding mission examining the decline of the traditional weaving industry
31-Mar-2021
In November 2020, while conducting our fact-finding mission in the Koila Bazar locality of Chuhatta in Varanasi, we came across Murtaza Hussain, a Zardozi artisan. The lockdown has hit him hard. His future is uncertain, but he doesn’t want his children to suffer the same fate. “I will never teach them this work,” he says,…
Lockdown Impact: President’s award winning Aquaculture scholar sells fish for a living Part-4 of our on-going series based on CJP's Purvanchal fact-finding mission examining the decline of the traditional weaving industry
26-Mar-2021
Varanasi is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Its citizens are a hardy lot, they always find a way to come out stronger from any adversity. But one has to ask why should they have to suffer to the point of taking up menial jobs just to survive? CJP team…
Lockdown Impact: Crushing debt, mounting bills Part-3 of our on-going series based on CJP's Purvanchal fact-finding mission examining the decline of the traditional weaving industry
20-Mar-2021
In the by-lanes of Purana Gorakhnath locality of Gorakhpur, we came across Shahjehan, who was carrying mounds of yarn on his bicycle. His business has failed, family is in debt and the punishing electricity bills just rub salt into his wounds. “I am taking this yarn to be put on spindles, so that we can use…
Lockdown Impact: Weaver family drowning in debt Part-2 of our on-going series based on CJP's Purvanchal fact-finding mission examining the decline of the traditional weaving industry
12-Mar-2021
The traditional Banarasi weaving industry in India’s Purvanchal region is withering, and people engaged in the trade are struggling financially. Entire families have been pushed into poverty, girls are suffering in the absence of online education as schools are shut. Our team came across 18-year-old Amina whose family of ten in Mubarakpur, is struggling to get back…
Lockdown Impact: Weavers forced to become tea sellers! Part-1 of our on-going series based on CJP's Purvanchal fact-finding mission examining the decline of the traditional weaving industry
08-Mar-2021
The once thriving Banarasi weaving industry has come to a grinding halt in wake of the Covid-19 induced national lockdown. But despite the heritage status accorded to the traditional handloom industry that is a part of the Varanasi’s culture for more than a millennium, Banarasi weavers are struggling to make ends meet, mainly due to…
When will we give women farmers their due? CJI's recent comments call for a closer look at women’s contribution to Indian agriculture
16-Jan-2021
“Women farmers do most of the work in the fields. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the men everyday and so while protesting against the three farm Acts passed by the central government, we will not back down,” said farmer Nikita Kakra from Shahapur city in Maharashtra on January 13, 2021, when asked about the Chief Justice…
Lockdown has reduced lives of bidi labourers to ashes! Drop in wages leading to extreme financial distress
01-Dec-2020
Ever since the Covid-19 global pandemic struck and led to the country-wide lockdown that began in March 2020, its negative impact on the Indian economy has been catastrophic. Cottage industries of rural India are the worst affected, families running them having been pushed to the brink of penury! Those involved with the cottage industry in West Bengal, especially bidi workers, are today amidst extreme…
How Purvanchal’s traditional weaving industry came undone CJP’s ongoing fact-finding mission examines the twin-blows dealt by Covid and administrative apathy
18-Nov-2020
Weaving is not just an industry in Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal region, it is the basis for a strong bond between people from two communities. Handcrafted textiles are the means through which craftsmen and women tell the story of their rich and vivid heritage. But now this bond appears to be weakening as the industry has been…
Financial losses cannot be offset on the weary shoulders of the labourer: SC Court quashes anti-worker notification by Gujarat government
09-Oct-2020
On October 1, 2020 a three-Judge Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Indu Malhotra, DY Chandrachud and KM Joseph, quashed a Gujarat government notification exempting factories from paying overtime wages to workers and providing ideal working conditions to them amid the Covid-19 lockdown, on grounds of public emergency in Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha & Anr. v. State…
खाद्य संप्रभुता बचेगी तभी होगा भारत आत्मनिर्भर छोटे किसानों के अधिकारों की सुरक्षा से ही महफूज रहेगा हर किसी के भोजन का अधिकार
28-Sep-2020
(सरकार की ओर से हाल में पारित कराए गए तीन कृषि बिलों से देश की खाद्य संप्रभुता खतरे में पड़ गई है. इनसे खाद्य सुरक्षा के नियमन और इसके लिए जरूरी कानूनी ढांचे के टूटने की आशंका बढ़ गई है. यह ब्रीफिंग पेपर इसी मुद्दे से जुड़ा है) संसद में खेती-किसानी से जुड़े जो तीन…
Does the Constitution stand with our farmers and their rights? A closer look at safeguards available to the agricultural community
25-Sep-2020
The country is presently engulfed in peaceful protests by farmers, a community that has largely known to be organised yet silent; a community that toils hard to drive the farming sector and to ensure food security for the countrymen. According to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural…
Why has India ratified but not yet adopted UN Resolution on farmers’ rights? Recently passed three farm bills have provisions that clash with international conventions
25-Sep-2020
Corrigendum: A previous version of this report said that India had not signed up for or voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. The error is deeply regretted. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas was…
CJP’s appeal for migrant workers’ right to vote CJP's latest campaign for migrant workers of India
03-Aug-2020
CJP campaigns to ensure migrant workers get their right to vote. The millions of voices count in a democracy that aims to be more inclusive. Add your voice of support. Visit https://cjp.org.in/let-migrant-vote/ to sign the petition. #LetMigrantsVote CJP reaches out to thousands of migrant workers trapped in a food crisis CJP against Hunger: Essentials supplied…
CJP campaigns for migrant workers’ Right to Vote Our #LetMigrantsVote Campaign
23-Jul-2020
Following the lockdown, India’s gaze has, for the first time, been turned towards the “migrant labourer”and the plight that a sudden lockdown caused to them. This is why Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and other organisations such as Lok Shakti Abhiyan, Bangla Sanskriti Manch, All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) and Bharatiya…
List of Nodal Officers in Maharashtra For providing assistance to stranded migrants, students and tourists amidst the Covid-19 outbreak
05-May-2020
As India enters the third phase of the lockdown efforts are being made to help people stuck in different state to get back to their home states. This process is being undertaken after inter-state discussions on how best to help hapless migrant workers, students, tourists and others go back home to their loved ones. The…