Anand Pagare
I am Anand Pagare from Malegaon, Maharashtra. I belong to a Dalit community. My people have little or no land. So we have to migrate for 6 or 7 months a year, in search of work. Due to migration and poverty, our children's education, our health and our financial condition remains very poor. Besides, all basic amenities are lacking in our lives. So people have to struggle throughout their lives. I have been a media activist in Abhivyakti Media for six years now. Making documentaries in this organization taught me a lot. I came here because I know all the issues of my community and I know that community media is a space where these problems can be spoken out. Besides, my community is not represented in the media at all. For instance, Malegaon has seen communal conflict. Blasts have happened in the last years. So whenever mainstream media writes about Malegaon, they only mention communal tensions. A lot of atrocities against Dalits happen, but the media never writes about it, the same happens with seasonal migration - that is regarded with silence, too. I want this to change, I want to bring these stories forth.

Anand Pagare has produced 17 stories for us.