n October 2005 , soon after north Kashmir was devastated

women and children suffered the most from a disaster , particularly in rural areas where their voices don ' t

Social Work students at Kashmir

carry much weight .

University were asked to assess the

In January 2008 , Child Rights

immediate requirement of the vic-

& You , a Delhi-based NGO , offered

tims . We found that though much

me Fellowship on Child Rights ( Surrelief

was distributed , not all bene-

vival , Development , Protection and

fitted because of lack of coordina-

Participation ) in earthquake-hit

tion among government and non-

Boniyar . The primary objective of

governmental organisations . This

the survey was to identify the quanassessment

was sent to local news-

tum of suffering of the disabled and

papers but , unfortunately , it wasn ' t

widows and the government ' s republished

.

sponse to mitigate it .

Sometime later , we were sent ,

The survey revealed that 4 to

with the assistance of Tata Institute

5 % of a population of 2,200 in five

of Social Sciences , Mumbai , and Ac-

villages was disabled and 3 % were

tion Aid international , to conduct a

widows . The unnoticed disable and

month-long need assessment survey

widow population is 64 % and 29 %.

in Tangdhar . There , I realised that