Governance
Living with the clockwork floods of Barak River
The state seems to be indifferent to the plight of the large number of people settled in the Barak Valley in southern Assam, and they are left to fend for themselves when the river routinely floods its banks every monsoon
Digitizing the public distribution system comes a cropper in Nuh
An attempt to digitize transactions under the government’s targeted public distribution system in Haryana’s Nuh district was aborted primarily due to a failure of technical infrastructure and connectivity issues
Fifty years of peace-building efforts in Nagaland
Natwarbhai Thakkar and the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram established by him in Chuchuyimlang village of Mokokchung district have worked unceasingly to integrate Naga society with the national mainstream
Growing a forest transforms Jharkhand village
The residents of Hesatu village have successfully raised a thriving forest over 365 acres of wasteland without any intervention from the state or civil society organizations that now supports livelihoods in many ways
Bodoland families smart under ravages of climate and conflict
A combination of ethnic conflict and climate change has pushed thousands of distressed families in western Assam towards a precarious existence
Abandoned Niyamgiri villages tell sad tale of wholesale migration
Five abandoned villages in the Niyamgiri hills that have now been reclaimed by the forest indicate a complete failure of governance and lack of the state’s reach and action among the Dongria Kondh indigenous people
Budget has prepared ground for states to usher in transformation
Finance Minster Arun Jaitley has paved way for making significant transformation of rural areas a reachable dream. It is now up to the states to get their acts together and not fritter away the substantial allocations for agriculture and rural development
Godda women rise up to leave imprint on local politics
The victory of Poonam Devi of Tarkhutta village in Jharkhand in local government body elections is a story of how collective resolve of village women successfully challenged patriarchal structures and corrupt governance practices
Campaign by tribal women groups brings down alcoholism in Attappadi
When women living around Attappadi Reserve Forest found that no development was possible due to chronic alcoholism among the tribal men, they banded together to rid the area of the menace and start a labor bank for employment
A tale of two women and a watershed
Two unlearned women in a remote area of Bihar have broken gender stereotypes to emerge as community leaders and manage the construction of a watershed that now benefits 12 villages
New education policy fails to address issues of equity
The 2016 education policy of India reinforces the status quo through its tacit acceptance of stratified education, the intense focus on regimented outcomes and competition, and its inability to decentralize and empower teachers
Small vegetable and poultry farmers severely affected by demonetization drive
Three weeks into the surprise announcement by the government to withdraw high denomination currency notes from circulation, it is now clear that producers of perishable commodities such as vegetable and poultry have been seriously impacted
Trade tumbles at Sonepur cattle fair after demonetization
The severe scarcity of currency notes have resulted in business at India’s largest cattle fair, which is conducted entirely in cash, crashing to a halt with most sellers returning home empty handed
Currency tsunami hits Kerala fisher village
The poor women of Anju Thengue island village in Kerala have been caught unprepared by the ban on banknotes that has seen prices crash and a near total collapse of the fish market
Small vegetable farmers in Maharashtra suffer blow from demonetization
The people in rural Pune are past the initial shocks of demonetization and are now coming to grips with it, but there are signs of distress among growers and sellers of fruits and vegetables
Rural Tamil Nadu shows resilience as currency crisis disrupts life
For villagers in Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur, particularly the poor, the trashing of high-value banknotes is another hardship among many that they have to face
Farmers, daily wage laborers in Odisha badly hurt by demonetization
Farmers and those in rural areas who make a living as daily wage laborers in Odisha have been left stranded by the demonetization drive by the Indian government that has led to a huge scarcity of lower denomination notes
Demonetization and the rural poor in five dimensions
The junking of high value currency notes has led to an unprecedented situation where the poor are more at risk from manipulation by the unscrupulous than from any crippling financial loss in the short or medium terms, barring exceptions
Political turmoil leaves Kashmir’s education sector in tatters
Four months of closed schools in the middle of an academic year has left an entire generation of Kashmiri students in the lurch although there are some scattered efforts at makeshift community schools
Tackling malnutrition in India needs thinking out of the box
If India has to improve its rank on the global Hunger Index, there has to be an emphasis on alternative and participatory approaches of delivering nutrients to underserved populations