With just four days left for the first phase of the Bihar elections, political activity in the state has reached its peak. From the INDIA bloc and the NDA to the Mahagathbandhan are making big promises on jobs, industries, and curbing migration. But on the ground, voters remain divided and unsure about who to trust this time.
In this Outlook interview, Mukesh Sahani, founder of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and former Bihar minister, talks about Bihar’s backward and fisherman communities. He criticises the focus on “five kilos of rice” as development, highlighting gaps in education, healthcare, and employment. Sahani explains why he formed VIP in 2018 after advocating for Nishad community rights and SC reservation in Bihar, following examples from Bengal and Delhi. He also discusses the impact of BJP and RSS policies on backward and Dalit groups and calls for politics to focus on real issues like social justice, equality, and development.
In this Outlook video report, JD(U)’s muscleman, former MLA Anant Singh is accused of killing Jan Suraaj worker Dularchand Yadav in a violent clash in Basawan Chak. The incident has reignited fears of Jungle Raj and raised tough questions about Nitish Kumar’s governance. As Bihar heads into the 2025 elections, the killing once again blurs the line between Nitish Raj and the lawlessness it once vowed to end.
Every monsoon, the Yamuna spills over its banks and this year nearly ten thousand families have again been forced to leave their homes. Entire clusters along the floodplains now lie under water, with people crowded into relief camps set up beneath metro stations and along roadside patches. Inside, basic rations, drinking water and temporary bedding are distributed, but daily life has come to a halt. Children are cut off from schools, workers from wages, and families from their routines. What remains is a cycle of loss and rebuilding, repeated each year as the river rises as the city tries to hold its breath.
Protests at Delhi's Rohini dog shelter over alleged cruelty and bone discoveries following Supreme Court order modifications, with officials denying wrongdoing and suggesting rival involvement.
In Savda Ghevra and other informal settlements, even a simple glass of water comes at a huge cost. Families spend up to 15% of their tiny monthly incomes on buying canned water because taps rarely provide safe drinking water. Getting an RO system is simply unaffordable. Broken toilets, leaking roofs, damp walls, and unsafe homes make daily life even harder. Women are often forced to relieve themselves in nearby fields. Greenpeace India’s audit exposes these harsh realities and calls for urgent solutions, like water ATMs and tankers, to ensure residents have safe, reliable water.
Despite genuine efforts made under the District Mental Health Programme in Uttar Pradesh, the poor are slipping through the cracks. Launched in 2018, the main initiatives of the DMHP include the opening of mann kakshas across 75 districts of the state, the launch of Tele Manas helpline number and the 'dawa se dua tak' programme. A ground report from Lucknow, Barabanki, Unnao, Kanpur and Gonda reveals that the rural mental health crisis needs urgent attention as more people were found at religious places than at the state-operated mental health counselling centres.
Ahead of Women's Day, Outlook profiles Nirmala, a widow who has taken care of her three daughters by working as a puncture mechanic, a profession dominated by men
As the state borders are difficult to cross through due to the lockdown, many people are unable to immerse the ashes of their loved ones. At Delhi's Lodhi Road Crematorium, Pandit Dharam Vir has the onerous task of looking after the urns containing the ashes of the deceased.
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