Grassroots journalists report from Chhattisgarh

Aloka doesn’t quite remember when she decided to be a journalist. “I always loved telling stories,” she says. Only her tales didn’t involve animals, children or morals but were those of people dealing with the rigours of daily life while living in some of India’s poorest districts. She had never imagined that one day her stories would be considered “news” and that they would bring about much required changes to lives.

But today, thanks to initiatives like the CGNET Swara, women like Aloka have a chance to report issues from and about areas like Chhattisgarh that don’t exist on India’s mainstream media map.

This feature by Prayas (Good morning from Chhattisgarh!, Prayas, June 15, 2012) profiles female voices from Chhattisgarh