Revive traditional wisdom for healthy life in villages

India has a rich heritage of local health traditions and reviving these diverse ethno-medical practices could ensure long and healthy lives for people in the countryside without spending huge amounts of money

Skill training empowers girls, raises hope for gender parity

Skill development trainings are not only helping rural communities fight poverty in Assam but are also empowering girls to aspire big, overcoming challenges posed by social stigma and deep-rooted gender disparity

Solar pumps brighten lives of Kutch’s salt farmers

Agariyas, the traditional saltpan workers in the Little Rann of Kutch, have switched from diesel to ecofriendly solar-powered pumps to lift brine that have boosted their earnings from saved costs

Chhattisgarh makes headway on tribal rights

Chhattisgarh has taken encouraging steps to recognize and implement rights of forest communities but more effort is required needed at the village level to boost livelihood opportunities for indigenous people

  • Oct 10, 2018
  • Dhamtari & Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh

Doll makers of Bengal face bleak prospects

The wooden doll makers of Natungram in Burdwan district have traditionally done good business during Durga Puja, but this festive season has brought little cheer to them due to reduced orders

GI tag boosts demand for Waigaon’s turmeric

Farmers of Waigaon in Maharashtra have received a GI tag for organically grown turmeric that is rich in curcumin, known for its multiple health benefits. The cultivators hope to cash in on the increase in demand

Gram swaraj in a globalizing world

Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of economically self-sufficient villages is at a distinct variance with the ideas and policies of liberalization, trade and globalization. Is it possible to strike a middle path?

Soligas in tiger reserve win battle over forest rights

After the jungles they inhabit were declared a wildlife sanctuary, the Soliga tribe in southern Karnataka has made history by winning a legal battle over their traditional rights to forestland and produce

Mobile labs in rural Odisha promote science-based solutions

With a science-based approach learnt from mobile science labs through the audiovisual medium, tribes in Odisha have adapted simple measures that have helped in reducing their health problems

  • Sep 28, 2018
  • Kalahandi & Kandhamal, Odisha

Bhimshankar village makes the most of nature’s trail

Residents of Yelavali village inside Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra have made a collective decision to promote responsible ecotourism that is providing them with a sustainable livelihood

Naga villagers revive traditional crafts and weaves

Villagers of Diezephe near Dimapur have revived their traditional crafts and weaves by adapting to market demands and by using modern tools, and have found themselves an ecofriendly livelihood

Farm ponds improve lives of Singhbhum women

Constructed to ensure water security for cultivators, farm ponds have also helped rural women by reducing their daily treks to fetch water for domestic needs, and improving their personal health and hygiene

Rural youth: old prejudices or real disadvantages?

Despite long-held notions that young people in villages lack better life opportunities, the current situation of youth in urban areas and their proximate countryside is not too different in many parts of India

Upland farmers shift to coffee for better prospects

Suffering losses from traditional crops of ginger and cardamom, farmers in the mountainous areas of Kalimpong and Darjeeling in West Bengal have started growing organic coffee for better returns

Rural community at receiving end of temple town’s sewage

Commercial establishments catering to religious tourism in the temple town of Guruvayur have contaminated the ground and surface water of a village in Thrissur by releasing raw sewage into natural drains

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