Features
Returned migrants: A pause or the end of a dream?
Lockdown has forced migrant workers to return home. Left with no cash savings and duped of overdue wages, their future seems uncertain more than ever
Children learn through innovative videos during lockdown
Coordinated efforts of teachers, volunteers and parents, who receive custom-designed video content on mobile phones, help children of primary classes in remote villages stay connected to their lessons
With urban patronage, khun weavers hope for better market
Weaving cloths of increased widths that would lend khun fabric to be made into clothes other than saree blouses, khun weavers move beyond rural patronage and into fashion world
Nomadic Molesalams peddle traditional medicine despite challenges
Despite a meager income, inability to avail government benefits and their children missing education, the traditional medicine men continue their trade among loyal rural clientele
Women unite to address problems and transform their village
Under an umbrella village organization, members of women self-help groups address common problems in their village, including a stand-off against a mining company
Women ensure regular access to drinking water
With the dug well drying up in summer, women who lost time in fetching water and hence wage work, got a bore well drilled to fulfill their water needs
How Nivaje transformed into a model village
With SRI method to boost paddy yield, establishing cooperative dairy to improve livelihood, and installing biogas plants for energy needs, Nivaje has become a sustainable community
Resourceful producer companies address farmers’ lockdown challenges
As members struggled to buy farm inputs and sell produce, their FPCs, with special permission, arranged for inputs and sold their produce directly to consumers
India Post delivers litchis in Bihar during lockdown
Postal department and horticulture directorate join hands to deliver litchi directly at consumers’ doorstep, helping farmers sell the fruits and get better price during lockdown
Making sal leaf plates lifts women out of poverty
With increased awareness about ecofriendly products, women in West Bengal make plates and bowls made of sal leaves, earning an increased and sustained income
Village Organizations pave way for women’s empowerment
Women who came together for better livelihood, have become socially empowered that they use their collective power to resolve community issues and ensure gender justice
With no increase in tiger count, tribes continue to be relocated
With discontentment among relocated tribes leading to conflict between tiger conservation and tribes’ habitat rights in Similipal, administrators hope to change mindset with education and employment
Women bring economic and environmental changes with leaf plates
By making biodegradable tableware from areca leaves that used to be burnt, rural women in Assam help minimize air and plastic pollution, while increasing their household income
Dongria Kondhs struggle to sell forest produce during lockdown
As the peak harvest season of minor forest produce coincides with the lockdown period, the tribes of Niyamgiri Hills struggle to sustain their forest-based livelihood
Scientist ropes in coastal communities for marine conservation
Creating awareness about mangrove and seagrass ecosystems among coastal communities, and facilitating additional income for them, a marine scientist involves them in conservation
Will uru tourism revive prospects of Kerala’s wooden dhows
Handcrafting of wooden dhows is on a decline, as the ancient cargo vessels have become redundant. Government plans to include dhows in tourism to revive the craft
Stranded Chakmas in Tiruppur fear bleak prospects
With knitwear industry grinding to a halt, Chakma tribes who had migrated to Tamil Nadu from northeastern states to avoid poverty, find themselves in the same challenging situation
Cyclone Amphan leaves trail of destruction in Sundarbans
Already in distress due to lockdown, horticulture farmers of Sundarbans suffer saltwater intrusion and loss of trees to Cyclone Amphan, while tiger widows lose livelihoods and homes
Adolescent girls progress towards complete empowerment
Repressive norms pushed adolescent girls to poor health and early marriage. Bringing them together into groups has helped them improve their health, stop child marriage and learn vocational skills
Women use mobile phones to maintain land records
Over half a million women, trained to access and maintain their land records through mobile phones, have learned to complete documentation, so that they are registered as owners