Features
Transgenders fight blind beliefs about motherhood and childcare
Creating awareness through street plays and one-to-one counseling, trained transgender women leverage cultural practices to educate tribal women with poor health indicators, the importance of seeking health care
Women herders lose authority as pastoralism declines
Changes in farming practices and climate crisis affecting nomadic pastoralism, traditional herders opt for settled living. As they migrate for other jobs, women bear the burden of added responsibilities
Returned migrants take to smuggling for want of livelihood
In villages of West Bengal close to the Indo – Bangladesh border, migrants back home during the lockdown have been lured into smuggling for financial sustenance
Villagers save in a deity’s name for rainy day
Village God’s Funds, a traditional practice of pooling money and lending to shareholders with just a social collateral, help villagers save and borrow money for emergencies
Women grassroots health workers take to cycling for better reach
Accredited social health activists, who were dependent on the men in their family to commute or walked many miles every day, have become punctual and efficient after learning to cycle
Elephants establish new habitat in Andhra Pradesh
Farmers suffer crop damages as elephants re-colonize the state after centuries. While Wildlife Week celebrations are on, experts advocate long-term planning to minimize conflicts
Mandatory Aadhar seeding impedes access to welfare schemes
Linking of Aadhar with ration cards and bank accounts, mandated to weed out fake beneficiaries of government entitlements, has left many without much-needed benefits during the lockdown
Online classes spell end of education for rural girls
With boys getting preference to use the single multimedia phone at home, girls from poor rural households have discontinued studies, resigning themselves to an early marriage
Lift Irrigation helps monsoon-reliant farmers flourish
With farms lying above Kalnai River, farmers grew rain-fed paddy or jute. Community-owned lift irrigation helps them grow more crops, get better yield and earn more
Sahyadri farmers practice shifting cultivation amid ecological concerns
Older generation of farmers in western Maharashtra continue to practice age-old slash-and-burn cultivation on the slopes of Western Ghats, despite economic and ecological unsustainability
Thriving through challenges, young farmer offers hope, motivation
Hailing from a farming family, a young woman has qualified herself in agriculture, succeeding despite weather-related problems. Now she motivates other farmers, especially women, on adopting new techniques and enhancing income
Families learn to navigate lockdown together
Setting aside livelihood concerns, rural parents learn to engage with their children and keep them occupied productively with local resources, to ensure the children’s emotional well-being
Adivasis on course to revive traditional farm practices
Deskilling of Central Indian Plateau Adivasis has led to loss of traditional knowledge and indigenous seeds. Efforts are on to reskill them by reviving traditional practices
Farmers rear fish in farm ponds for increased income
Frequent cyclones and industrial fishing have impacted the lives of fishermen and farmers in Nagapattinam. Rearing fish in farm ponds and growing crops on bunds have boosted their income
Bank sakhis help villagers get lockdown financial relief
In villages that lack banking facilities, banking correspondents carry out related work as banks’ representatives. They have been instrumental in beneficiaries receiving their lockdown welfare support
Uncertainty clouds future of returned migrant youth
Panna’s rural youth migrated with the hope that their remittances would promote progress. Back after the lockdown and with no local work, they are unsure of their future
Collectives empower women to address community’s challenges
From facing opposition in forming self-help groups to ensuring drinking water and healthcare facilities, village women show the positive impact of collectivization
Strawberry cultivation brings sweet success to farmers
Marketing their vegetables posing a challenge, Bhagalpur farmers made little money despite favorable agro-climatic conditions. Switching to strawberry cultivation and direct marketing have turned their fortunes
Landless tribes fulfill nutritient needs by growing vegetables in bags
Lack of land and water left tribes without vegetables in their diet, as buying vegetables was beyond their means. Growing vegetables in bags fulfills the need at no cost
Farmers cash in on demand for immunity boosters
With no signs of the coronavirus infection abating, moringa farmers in Tamil Nadu use the increasing demand for natural immunity boosters to their advantage, by value addition