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Farm entrepreneurs build path to prosperity in rural Jharkhand
Many farmers in Jharkhand have started taking progressive steps as rural entrepreneurs, offering a host of services to help local smallholders move beyond subsistence agriculture and towards increased incomes
Rural women’s collectives are all about empowerment
Self-help groups in villages bring financial and social empowerment to women, changing entrenched perceptions on their competence in managing their affairs
Technology-enabled sale streamlines fertilizer supply chain
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
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
Flayers and leather workers are victims of thick-skinned polity
Leather workers and people who deal with cattle carcasses remain an oppressed minority in villages across India, languishing at the bottom rung of rural society and ignored by governments at all levels
Fetching water adds to the drudgery of J&K women
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
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
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
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
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
Hiccups of clean growth or wages of stupid policy?
Should we opt for an economy that thrives on facelessness and tax evasion just because it supports livelihoods of a class of the poor, or should we opt for a more formal and compliant economy, knowing that there will be hiccups?
Women in Pakur use education to achieve development goals
With a strong belief that education would lead the community to achieve sustainable development goals, a night school in Ilami panchayat in Jharkhand educates and empowers women
Jharkhand kitchen gardens add nutrition to food basket
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
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
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
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?
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
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
Niyamgiri tribe revive wild harvests after Vedanta victory
Judicious use of wild uncultivated foods and revival of indigenous crops are helping the Dongria Kondh tribe of Niyamgiri to boost food security beyond their successful campaign against mining giant Vedanta
Mutlupur farmers transform neglected wetland into integrated farm
A group of farmers have converted a shunned wetland to practice fish farming, agroforestry and horticulture, providing employment and livelihood opportunities to impoverished villagers