Guwahati: Monalisa Barman, a researcher based in Tura, Meghalaya, was recently honored with the Under 30 Young Achievers Award by the Human Rights Law Network for her work in the field of human rights. The HRLN is a pan-India organization headquartered in New Delhi, which takes up human rights violation cases.
Although Monalisa is elated at having earned the distinction, she has been unable to collect the award owing to the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown in the state.
Monalisa Barman has been doing extensive research work on human rights issues and her work recently took her to Nagaland, where she hauled up the state government over its alleged violation of human rights. A former law student, Monalisa's legal knowledge has proved to be a cornerstone of her work. Her research work has also taken her to the neighboring state of Assam.
She has informed media persons that she took the government to court in 20 different cases. In one of the cases, a government hospital was compelled to pay compensation to a family who lost their child due to medical negligence.
Monalisa Barman is an alumna of Tura's Sherwood School and Don Bosco College. She took up law at KLE Bangalore and pursued her Master's Degree on Dalits and Tribal Action from the prestigious Tata Institute for Social Sciences in Mumbai.
The young researcher is currently working on the abortion rights in Assam's tribal tea plantations. This time, her research work is being funded by the World Health Organization (WHO).
She feels that there are a lot of unsafe abortions that result in the death of the mothers. She feels that social dynamics and taboos associated with abortion rights, especially in the tribal belts, are a major problem.
Monalisa says that soon, she will open a branch in Tura to disseminate awareness about human rights and provide cost-free legal aid to people who are in need.