Last month, when Prahlad Chakma and his friends at the Arunachal Chakma Student Union identified members of the Khampti community who had shot at Chakma forest workers indiscriminately, they knew it was information they had to share with the media. “We wrote out a press release and sent it to the Arunachal Pioneer,” recalls 25-year-old Prahlad, a Teach for India volunteer based in Delhi. Unfortunately, pressurised by other student bodies of Arunachal Pradesh, the newspaper claimed they would not be able to publish the story.

Meena and her daughter Aleesha in Diyun, Arunachal Pradesh. Aleesha was born on 2011 at the local health centre. But even after repeated visits Meena failed to get a birth certificate for her daughter. Citizen journalist Prahlad Chakma called Seven Sisters Project’s toll-free number to report u00a0the District Commissi oner’s complete disregard for the issuance of birth certificates to Chakma children