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Village women up in arms against alcoholism

Women in rural Karnataka have banded together to demand a prohibition on liquor because they are the receiving end of alcoholism of men that leads invariably to domestic violence and financial hardship

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The travails of India’s forest dwellers

Tribal people who live in and around forests are being continuously pushed beyond the edge of their meager livelihoods and the land where they live, despite laws that are supposed to protect their rights

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Odisha women fight malnutrition with backyard gardens

Women in distressed and malnourished regions of Odisha are growing nutrition gardens to feed their families organic vegetables and legumes consistently through the year at no additional cost

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Healthcare of elderly suffers with youth migration

With little livelihood opportunities in villages, the youth in rural Maharashtra migrate to cities, leading to delayed healthcare of elderly dependents and increased medical expenses

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Kashidakari women look to grow embroidery earnings

Women in Jodhasar, who have begun embroidering for a living by putting traditional skills they used for embellishing personal clothing to good use, need better market linkages to boost incomes

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Beedi rolling robs Murshidabad girls of their childhood

Young girls in rural Murshidabad are pushed by their parents to roll beedis, the poor man’s cigarette, at the cost of their schooling because being able to earn improves their marriage prospects

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Palakkad’s priestly community encash culinary tradition

Priests from Tamil Nadu, who migrated to Kerala for temple duties centuries ago, have put their culinary skills to good use, augmenting household incomes and the local economy

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Is resettling millions of forest dwellers feasible?

A recent Supreme Court order that will likely lead to the largest ever eviction of forest dwellers in India needs to be seen as a wake-up call for state governments to quickly remedy the situation

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Seed guardians of Banswara revive traditional varieties

Village women in Banswara district of Rajasthan are setting an example as organic farmers by adopting and spreading awareness to revive indigenous varieties of crops that boost nutritional security

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How development excludes India’s tribal people

Failing to understand the tribal world view and imposing the dominant development paradigm on adivasi communities is affecting their identity and well-being

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Karnataka dairy farmers face heat of drought

Dairy farmers in Karnataka have been seriously impacted by the severe drought in most parts of the state as milk yields have fallen and fodder has become more expensive

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Maternity homes provide safe haven to tribal women

Pregnant women from tribal villages in Kandhamal that lack roads and mobile phone connectivity have found a safe shelter in intermediary maternity homes that prepare them for institutional delivery

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Singing genealogists of Karnataka sustain ancestral profession

The Helavas of Karnataka, who sing family genealogies from carefully maintained records, have practiced the tradition for centuries, and continue to do so despite fading relevance

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Tribal women in Rajasthan assert citizen rights

Solidarity groups of tribal women in southern Rajasthan have started taking collective action to claim government entitlements such as food and rural employment

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Child marriage ban helps Gond girls pursue dreams

In Gond tribal villages where child marriages were the norm till recently, a resolution by elders to ban marriages before legal age has helped girl children to continue their education

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Income support is healthy tonic for smallholder farmers

Instead of farm loan waivers and minimum support price for crops that distort resource allocation and markets, basic income support to small and marginal farmers is a far better state mechanism

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Village health workers toil tirelessly despite low wages

Village health workers have emerged as the mainstay of the primary healthcare system in rural Maharashtra. Yet, they are paid tiny amounts, get no benefits and struggle with supply shortages

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Participation key to empowering Juang tribes

Treating Juang tribes of Odisha as participants in the development process rather than as recipients of development largesse will help bringing them into the national mainstream

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Food forests offer better profits to farmers

Mimicking forests, progressive farmers across India have started transforming farms into a layered cropping system that is climate resilient and more productive

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Weaving a future, meter by meter

In the villages of Bodoland in Assam, where every Bodo home has a loom, Sama Brahma earns a modest income from weaving, and is trying to pass on this waning traditional skill to her daughters