News / Columns / Saurabh Chauhan

Saurabh Chauhan

Saurabh Chauhan is a correspondent reporting from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, covering Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Agriculture. Previously reported from Mohali (Punjab), Shimla (HP) and covered Political, Civil Admin, Finance beats.

Articles by Saurabh Chauhan

‘Street children being trapped into substance abuse in UP’

Majority of children rescued by child rights authorities across the state is into drug abuse. The kids are being trapped by other youths for easy money.

The state government is yet to prepare a plan to tackle the menace.(Representative image)

cities

Updated on Jun 26, 2019 03:42 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Luckow | BySaurabh Chauhan

‘Tussle over peanut sharing’ leads to double murder in UP

Tension gripped Shahjahanpur after two people were killed in a clash between two groups on Monday. Police said the clash was result of a spat over sharing of peanuts a couple of days ago.

Couple of days back, both groups had an altercation over peanuts sharing at a shop in the town.(Representative image)

cities

Published on Jun 25, 2019 01:19 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Even NOTA pipped these Lok Sabha candidates

The recently-concluded elections proved to be a bitter experience for some apolitical candidates who could not even surpass the number of votes polled under NOTA (none of the above).

Some of these apolitical candidates succeeded to get a ticket from established political parties, but barring one or two, the remaining competed with NOTA in terms of vote share.(Representative image)

cities

Published on May 31, 2019 01:14 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

This teenager talks away the menstrual misconception

Even as many are ready to use sanitary napkins, but the high prices keep them away from it.

16-year-old Shikoh Zaidi has dared to break the silence on menstruation and puberty and talk about it.

cities

Published on May 29, 2019 03:33 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019: For some, puberty means no school, early marriage

Even as society is opening up, puberty still rings wedding bells in the life of some teenage girls. It is another matter that after marriage, they struggle hard to shoulder family responsibilities.

Fearing that their girl may get involved in a love affair or fall prey to crime against women, the parents find marriage a solution.

cities

Published on May 28, 2019 03:48 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

UP alliance’s vote share declined on 51 seats

The Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal had joined hands before the Lok Sabha polls in the hope that their combined vote share would enable them to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party. The election results, however, proved otherwise as the alliance’s vote share declined in 51 Lok Sabha constituencies. In 15 constituencies, the decline was by over 10%.

The SP-BSP-RLD contested on 78 Lok Sabha seats barring Amethi and Rae Bareli.

cities

Published on May 27, 2019 03:47 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal elect most women MPs: 11 each

Overall, the 17th Lok Sabha will have the highest number of women parliamentarians ever at 78

One of the biggest victories in Uttar Pradesh was of BJP’s Smriti Irani over Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi.(AFP File)

elections

Published on May 26, 2019 03:43 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

‘Students shouldn’t be forced to buy non-NCERT, non-SCERT books’

To facilitate affordable and quality education, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the state education department and the education board to ensure that children are not forced to carry books other than those published or prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research Training.

Under the RTE Act, children are supposed to get free books and uniforms.(Representative image/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

cities

Published on May 20, 2019 03:16 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

NRI-abandoned brides say bill lacks teeth, demand tougher measures

Battling barriers of police apathy and cumbersome legal procedures, several women of the state who were deserted by NRI husbands feel the need to have a strong law that protects their interests and brings the guilty to justice.

Uttar Pradesh is placed third in the country with regards to the number of brides abandoned by NRIs.(Representative image)

cities

Published on May 18, 2019 05:41 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Lending a helping hand to elderly voters in Lucknow

The directions for this initiative were issued by the district inspector of schools (DIoS).

The education department had instructed block education officers and school heads to ensure effective working of ‘Bulawa Tolis’ (groups of messengers), comprising school children, which go door to door on polling day.(HT Photo)

elections

Updated on May 12, 2019 12:35 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lukhnow | BySaurabh Chauhan

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Celebrities prefer Lucknow to fulfil their Lok Sabha dream

In 1996, actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar contested Lok Sabha election on its ticket against BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who represented Lucknow for consecutive five terms.

In the past, the Samajwadi Party has fielded a number of celebrities from Lucknow.(HT Photo)

elections

Updated on May 06, 2019 12:24 PM IST

Hindustan Times, LUCKNOW | BySaurabh Chauhan

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Sonakshi Sinha holds road show for mother in Lucknow

Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha held a road show for her mother Poonam Sinha, who is contesting as a Samajwadi Party candidate from the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat .

Poonam Sinha thanked the people for joining the road show in large numbers(HT Photo)

elections

Published on May 04, 2019 01:22 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Bottled-up emotions find expression, villagers get no solace in poll talk

The hooch tragedy claimed a dozen lives in Khadta village of Malihabad alone. The victim’s families are now struggling to make ends meet. Most of these families have less than a bigha of land each.

As for the polls, Nanha Prasad, 62, of Khadta village says, “It will not make a difference. After the tragedy, politicians and officials had made tall promises. Now, they must have forgotten our pain.”(Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

elections

Published on Apr 27, 2019 02:17 AM IST

Malihabad | BySaurabh Chauhan

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: UP has over 630 political parties out of 2,301 in the country

Most of the political parties in Uttar Pradesh, including Bharat Mata Sapoot Party, Bahujan Hasrat Party, Apna Dal Balihari and National Fifty-Fifty Front, are unrecognised.

Samajwadi Party is one of the few recognised regional political parties in Uttar Pradesh.(Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

elections

Published on Apr 25, 2019 11:10 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

UP: In mango belt , farmers poised for a turnaround

Low landholdings and farm distress have forced farmers to look for crop diversification even in the famous mango belt of Uttar Pradesh.

Not all are able to break from traditional crop but a few have been inspired by a former Panchayat Pradhan who resorted to floriculture in Datli village of Malihabad,30 km from Lucknow.

cities

Published on Apr 22, 2019 02:47 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Khadta (malihabad)

‘Why isn’t lack of safe drinking water a poll issue?’

Hazardous: Only 1.29% rural households in UP have access to piped water; over 33K water sources are contaminated.

Lack of access to safe piped water has left people excessively dependent on hand-pumps and bore-wells, many of which are contaminated sources.(Representative image)

elections

Updated on Apr 16, 2019 12:27 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: National issues important but development rules the roost here

Heated debates over political issues are common over a cup of tea at roadside stalls in UP. HT had a look into the hot topics of debate in villages of Unnao and Rae Bareli. While issues like nationalism and air strike across LoC seemed important to people, local issues like development still dominate their mind

Residents of Bicchiya village of Unnao discussing election issues in their constituency.(HT Photo)

elections

Updated on Apr 02, 2019 02:09 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Unnao

MNREGA okay, but where is work, ask villagers in Unnao

“Earlier, we used to get enough work under MNREGA without long gaps. But there are weeks when we have no work to do,” says Manju of the village.

cities

Published on Apr 02, 2019 08:54 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Unnao | BySaurabh Chauhan, Mirjapur Sumhari (unnao)

Leader saving us from cattle menace will be the real chowkidar, say farmers

Villages along the 90-km stretch on Unnao-Rae Bareli road are upset over the issue but the intensity has decreased to some extent after the state ordered caging of stray cattle and deployed the entire district machinery for the job.

elections

Published on Mar 29, 2019 09:37 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Unnao | BySaurabh Chauhan, Unnao

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: UP needs 3600 litres of indelible ink for festival of democracy

As per the Election Commission’s procedures, 3,26,662 vials of indelible ink will be dispatched to the polling booths while 10% (32, 666) will be kept in reserve.

One polling booth will be provided two such vials while 10% of the stock will be kept in reserve, they said.(HT)

elections

Updated on Mar 27, 2019 09:28 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: SP-BSP alliance has changedthe campaign tune in UP

The social media, which almost all political parties have been focusing upon, is also gradually seeing the presence of songs praising both Mayawati and Akhilesh, besides being flooded with posters and posts featuring them.

Sensing the change in political scenario, shops and vendors selling political paraphernalia have also stocked up their stalls with campaign material(HT FILE PHOTO)

elections

Published on Mar 17, 2019 12:37 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan

UP fails to improve human development index ranking in 27 years

Uttar Pradesh failed to improve its Human Development Index ranking over a period of 27 years, according to a report compiled by SBI research. The report is based on sub-national human development index data for Indian states from 1990 to 2017.

The HDI is the geometric mean of normalised indices for each of the three dimensions or indicators of education, health and standard of living.(Representative image)

cities

Published on Mar 14, 2019 02:57 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

AAP likely to contest two dozen seats in Uttar Pradesh

“Since the SP has already signed a pact with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), AAP is likely to announce candidates by the end of this week,” a senior party leader said.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwa(Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

elections

Updated on Mar 14, 2019 11:10 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan

UP: Despite poll code, 10 govt websites yet to remove pics of CM, ministers

Two days after the poll code came into force, at least 10 government departments are yet to remove pictures of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his Cabinet colleagues from their websites.

UP has 78 departmental websites of which 10 still have pictures of CM and ministers.

elections

Updated on Mar 13, 2019 12:56 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Brides deserted by NRIs in quest of justice

When Zuby Zaidi, a lawyer by profession, got married to a non resident Indian (NRI) on April 10, 2014, like the average Indian girl she too dreamed of ‘a happy ever after.’ The dream was shattered barely a year later, when she came to Lucknow to visit her parents and was deserted by her US-based husband and his UAE-based family, who sent her a divorce notice.

In 2017, the highest number of complaints was received from UP (67) and in 2018 it constituted the third highest number of complaints (82) after Punjab (93) and Delhi (85).(Representative image)

cities

Published on Feb 26, 2019 11:43 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

UP: Fear of crime pushing girls into early marriage

Earlier, girls were married off early due to poverty, lack of education and poor awareness, but now fear of crime against women has come as a new force to push girls into early marriages.

“Social pressure coupled with crimes happening around results in child marriages. Incidents of love marriages and abduction also mount pressure on parents.”(Representative image)

cities

Published on Feb 21, 2019 11:41 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

170 children died in UP adoption homes in five years: Govt data

Over the past five years, UP witnessed death of 170 children in the state-run adoption centres. This figure, revealed as part of data furnished by the union ministry of women and child development in the ongoing Parliament session, is only marginally lower than Maharashtra’s 172 over the same period.

UP government authorities said that poor health of children lodged in state adoption homes was responsible for this figure.(Representative image)

cities

Published on Feb 20, 2019 12:27 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

International adoptions: UP witnesses ten-fold rise over four years

Girl child preferred: As many as 33 girls and 10 boys adopted by couples from outside India, last year. Parents in India adopt 94 girls and 49 boys.

According to CARA, 43 children from UP were adopted by parents located outside India, in 2018. This is ten times more than the number of inter-country adoptions witnessed by the state in 2014-15 -- four.(Representative image)

cities

Published on Feb 20, 2019 12:11 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Enthusiasm runs high at UPCC headquarters ahead of Priyanka’s visit

Priyanka Gandhi, accompanied by her brother, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and her counterpart for western UP Jyotiraditya Scindiya, will reach the party office here by Monday noon.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee office decked-up to welcome the party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Lucknow, Sunday.(PTI)

cities

Updated on Feb 10, 2019 11:00 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan

Beyond ‘Lihaaf’: Queer literature out of closet now

Nearly 77 years ago, when noted author Ismat Chughtai’s ‘Lihaaf’ (The Quilt) came out, she drew widespread flak from society for her short story that depicted the idea of homosexuality. Today, people are more welcoming towards this brand of literature, as was evident by the inauguration of the Awadh Queer Literature Festival in Lucknow.

Visitors at Queer Literature Fest in Lucknow.(HT Photo)

cities

Published on Feb 09, 2019 05:56 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | BySaurabh Chauhan, Lucknow

Copy

Whatsapp Twitter Facebook Linkedin

Saurabh Chauhan

Saurabh Chauhan is a correspondent reporting from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, covering Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Agriculture. Previously reported from Mohali (Punjab), Shimla (HP) and covered Political, Civil Admin, Finance beats.

Majority of children rescued by child rights authorities across the state is into drug abuse. The kids are being trapped by other youths for easy money.

Tension gripped Shahjahanpur after two people were killed in a clash between two groups on Monday. Police said the clash was result of a spat over sharing of peanuts a couple of days ago.

The recently-concluded elections proved to be a bitter experience for some apolitical candidates who could not even surpass the number of votes polled under NOTA (none of the above).

Even as many are ready to use sanitary napkins, but the high prices keep them away from it.

Even as society is opening up, puberty still rings wedding bells in the life of some teenage girls. It is another matter that after marriage, they struggle hard to shoulder family responsibilities.

Overall, the 17th Lok Sabha will have the highest number of women parliamentarians ever at 78

Battling barriers of police apathy and cumbersome legal procedures, several women of the state who were deserted by NRI husbands feel the need to have a strong law that protects their interests and brings the guilty to justice.

The directions for this initiative were issued by the district inspector of schools (DIoS).

In 1996, actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar contested Lok Sabha election on its ticket against BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who represented Lucknow for consecutive five terms.

Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha held a road show for her mother Poonam Sinha, who is contesting as a Samajwadi Party candidate from the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat .

The hooch tragedy claimed a dozen lives in Khadta village of Malihabad alone. The victim’s families are now struggling to make ends meet. Most of these families have less than a bigha of land each.

Most of the political parties in Uttar Pradesh, including Bharat Mata Sapoot Party, Bahujan Hasrat Party, Apna Dal Balihari and National Fifty-Fifty Front, are unrecognised.

Low landholdings and farm distress have forced farmers to look for crop diversification even in the famous mango belt of Uttar Pradesh.

Hazardous: Only 1.29% rural households in UP have access to piped water; over 33K water sources are contaminated.

“Earlier, we used to get enough work under MNREGA without long gaps. But there are weeks when we have no work to do,” says Manju of the village.

Villages along the 90-km stretch on Unnao-Rae Bareli road are upset over the issue but the intensity has decreased to some extent after the state ordered caging of stray cattle and deployed the entire district machinery for the job.

As per the Election Commission’s procedures, 3,26,662 vials of indelible ink will be dispatched to the polling booths while 10% (32, 666) will be kept in reserve.

The social media, which almost all political parties have been focusing upon, is also gradually seeing the presence of songs praising both Mayawati and Akhilesh, besides being flooded with posters and posts featuring them.

Uttar Pradesh failed to improve its Human Development Index ranking over a period of 27 years, according to a report compiled by SBI research. The report is based on sub-national human development index data for Indian states from 1990 to 2017.

“Since the SP has already signed a pact with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), AAP is likely to announce candidates by the end of this week,” a senior party leader said.

Two days after the poll code came into force, at least 10 government departments are yet to remove pictures of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his Cabinet colleagues from their websites.

Earlier, girls were married off early due to poverty, lack of education and poor awareness, but now fear of crime against women has come as a new force to push girls into early marriages.

Girl child preferred: As many as 33 girls and 10 boys adopted by couples from outside India, last year. Parents in India adopt 94 girls and 49 boys.

Priyanka Gandhi, accompanied by her brother, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and her counterpart for western UP Jyotiraditya Scindiya, will reach the party office here by Monday noon.

Join Hindustan Times

Create free account and unlock exciting features like