Technology-enabled sale streamlines fertilizer supply chain

Fertilizer bags stacked in a warehouse in Andhra Pradesh. (Photo by Bikalp Chamola)

Linking technology and Aadhaar unique identity numbers, the direct benefit transfer of fertilizer subsidy in Andhra Pradesh has helped in curbing malpractices and has benefited farmers by preventing leakages

Technology helps Assam’s rural children learn better

Technology integration helps schoolchildren in rural Assam learn their lessons easily and widen their knowledge. (Photo by Rukmini Manasa Avadhanam)

School children in rural Assam, who lack exposure that their urban counterparts take for granted, have started using technology to their benefit, understanding their lessons better and learning new concepts

Fetching water adds to the drudgery of J&K women

Women and children in J&K spend a lot of time walking to a source of drinking water away from their homes. (Photo by Athar Parvaiz)

Lacking piped water supply, young girls and women in rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir spend hours walking long distances to get water far from their homes and waiting for their turn at the source

Women-centric interventions needed for flood-ravaged Sundarbans islands

Women who remain on the island after the men migrate take shelter in a stilt house during floods. (Photo by Sayanti Sengupta)

After men migrate for work, women of Mousuni Island in the Sundarbans in West Bengal have to struggle for survival, losing land to floods and erosion, and livelihoods to salinity ingress

Community radios in Odisha help improve gender parity

Residents of Adakata village listen to a program on community radio. (Photo by Basudev Mahapatra)

Broadcasting programs on gender inequality and against stigmas suffered by women in Odisha, community radio stations have effected a positive change in rural communities where girls are still the ignored population

Farmers grow coconuts in deserts to improve livelihoods

Rajpurohit’s coconut farm in the desert state of Rajasthan is an inspiration to many prospective growers in the region. (Photo by Hiren Kumar Bose)

Many farmers in India, the world’s top coconut producing country, have successfully introduced coconut farming in arid regions to meet growing demand and to boost earnings

Today’s Meerabai quenches thirst in Rajasthan villages

Meerabai Meena, the hand pump mechanic who ensures clean drinking water across five villages. (Photo by Manish Kumar Shukla)

Stepping into an all-male preserve, mechanic Meerabai Meena of Padoona village in Udaipur district traverses hilly terrain every day, repairing hand pumps to ensure safe drinking water for residents in five villages

Jharkhand kitchen gardens add nutrition to food basket

Women of self-help group in Ghagra village of Gumla district in Jharkhand distributing kitchen garden seeds among themselves. (Photo by Soumi Kundu)

Kitchen gardens tended by women in Gumla district boost rural diets by providing a rich variety of local cereals, pulses and vegetables, cut expenditure on purchases while improving their nutritional status

Chosen to be a model village, yet to become one

The continuous contour trench in Ansarwada, built under the SAGY scheme. (Photo by Vijay Suryavanshi)

With proactive villagers and panchayat leaders, Ansarwada in Maharashtra, chosen to be a model village under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, has made satisfactory progress, but has to clear stumbling blocks to become a full-fledged model village

In Gandhi’s Gujarat, potters keep shine on Hindu-Muslim amity

Pots on display for sale at Sarkhej Roza. (Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)

Despite insufficient income, lean periods during monsoons and unexpected hardship such as the floods this year, the Sumra Muslim potters return every year to Sarkhej Roza, where the pots they make are bought by Hindu wholesale traders, evoking secular unity

Women of Lalganj mobilize community to bring doctors to their doorsteps

A doctor attends to patients at Gaon Dawakhana, the community-owned village clinic that runs on family subscriptions. (Photo by Lokpriya Janhit Sewa Sansthan)

Increased healthcare expenses and lack of access to hospitals prompt a women’s collective in eastern Uttar Pradesh to run a biweekly village clinic on family subscriptions

How can we kick-start Make in Rural India?

Can India’s villages be home to increased industrial activity? (Photo by Pixabay)

A significant portion of the government’s flagship Make in India initiative can be realized in the country’s rural areas through enterprises that have potential to benefit and provide employment to a large number of people

Bengal’s farmers are behind Kolkata’s stunning Durga Puja pandals

Gouranga Kuila’s pavilion art for a puja in Kolkata (Photo by Gouranga Kuila)

Designing and building the temporary pavilions that house the deity during West Bengal’s biggest annual festival remains the preserve of rural artisans — chiefly farmers and folk artists — despite an increasing presence of professionals from creative arts in this field

Mutlupur farmers transform neglected wetland into integrated farm

Gopalji Trivedi (right), former vice-chancellor of Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University at Pusa, convinced farmers in Mutlupur to use a barren wetland for agricultural purposes. (Photo by Mohd Imran Khan)

A group of farmers have converted a shunned wetland to practice fish farming, agroforestry and horticulture, providing employment and livelihood opportunities to impoverished villagers

Women in Gir stand up for dignity of widows

Protesting against the sexual assault and death of a woman, women of self-help groups brought the issue to the police when no one else dared to, and ensured the capture of perpetrators. (Photo by Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell)

Women of self-help groups in the Gir region of Gujarat are going beyond microfinance and income-generation activities to fight against social taboos attached to widows and help them lead a better life