In May 2025, Maini Oraeen fell sick while she was working in searing heat in her village of Murkuni, in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district. The 51-year-old was unwell for a week, and then died. Oraeen had been allocated the work of building wells under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. “My mother used to do MGNREGA work every year,” said her only son, Vishwanath Oraon.