Previous Year Question

‘Bahini Darbar’ was a local monthly newspaper brought out by women in the Dabhoura area of Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh. Its distinctive feature was that women themselves prepared it, with the main purpose of highlighting the social problems of women and the surrounding villages.

It was not produced like a conventional printed newspaper; it was written by hand and photocopies were subsequently distributed. Its articles were written mainly in the local Bagheli language/dialect.

‘Bahini Darbar’ raised issues relating to women's rights, problems of Dalit and tribal communities, land rights, domestic violence, health and local administration. Along with reporting these issues, its women members also approached the administration and police for their resolution.

The background of the initiative is linked to discrimination faced by a Dalit woman over access to water in the Dabhoura area. The women subsequently began using written communication collectively to take their concerns to the community and administration, which eventually developed into ‘Bahini Darbar’.

‘Bahini Darbar’ roughly means ‘Sisters’ Court’ in Bagheli. Its basic purpose was not merely to make rural women readers, but to give them a medium through which they could write about and publicly raise their own problems.