Governance

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Volunteers in Odisha ensure stranded migrants do not go hungry

Social service personnel working on migration issues network with philanthropists, administrators and volunteers to ensure stranded Odia migrants and other state migrants in Odisha are fed

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Multi-pronged approach will reboot flagging rural economy

Enhancing the resilience of rural production system through multiple measures, besides soil and water conservation initiatives would help the rural populace find a firm footing

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Disrupted supply chains need to be mended to revive rural economy

Infusion of working capital at some levels of the supply chain and easing of transportation regulations would put ruptured supply chains back on track and reboot rural economy

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How a tribal community took measures to guard itself against COVID-19

Though remote, Sittilingi Valley in Tamil Nadu, has a sizeable population that migrates for work. This prompted a proactive panchayat leadership to rally the community around to safeguard itself

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Closure of seasonal hostels leaves migrants’ children in the lurch

While the lockdown left migrants stranded at destination sites, their children staying in seasonal hostels had to be sheltered with relatives or had to fend for themselves

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How COVID-19 would impact rural India and its economy

With no urban economic activities because of the lockdown, migrants who have returned to native villages and rural workers will feel the pinch in the coming months

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Urgent government intervention needed for migrants in transit

With the countrywide lockdown to arrest spread of COVID-19, migrant workers who started returning home from destination sites are caught in borders with scant amenities. Government needs to intervene to ensure safe passage

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Nutrition gardens help students learn better and eat better

Growing vegetables and fruits in schools with community support improves tribal students’ conceptual understanding of science and maths, and helps them eat a nutritious meal

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How bike ambulances help patients in remote areas access hospitals

For far-flung villages separated by forests with no access roads, reaching hospitals has been difficult. Bike ambulances fill the access gap, enabling patients get emergency medical care

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Community kitchens help tribal children overcome malnutrition

Rough terrains hampering access to anganwadi centers and hence nutritious food, men bring anganwadi ration to the village; women cook in a common facility and feed the children, to fight malnutrition

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Land allotment helps single women live with dignity

The Odisha government’s free allocation of land, combined with the central government’s housing funds, have enabled single women in rural areas to build houses for themselves

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Land rights on pastures empower deprived communities

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Giving land rights to landless and nomadic people in Maharashtra on degraded pastures have provided these marginalized communities with a reasonable livelihood

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Local livelihoods curb exploitative labor trafficking

To stop poor villagers from becoming bonded migrant labor, the Odisha government needs to strengthen latest steps to cut out middlemen and boost the rural jobs guarantee program with higher wages

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Child panchayats spur village leaders to improve services

Knowing their rights to life and social protection, school students in child panchayats have compelled rural administrators to provide basic amenities necessary for the development of their villages

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Farmer producer companies: let a thousand balloons float

While farmer producer companies mushroom across the country because of government’s financial incentives, problems in input delivery and sale of produce persist, making their long-term sustenance difficult

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Cattle trade dwindles at Sonepur Mela

Enforcement of laws related to cattle trade has affected the famed Sonepur cattle fair, with cattle numbers decreasing steadily at the fair and sale dwindling by the year

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India needs poverty fighters to boost rural incomes

Ending endemic economic poverty in the central and eastern parts of rural India needs more numbers of trained foot soldiers to deal with the complex realities on the ground

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Stigmatized Lodha tribe starts new life trajectory

Education and sports have helped the Lodhas, a particularly vulnerable tribal community that was forced to lead an excluded life because they were stigmatized as thieves, to increasingly join the mainstream

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Families along Brahmaputra lose land to river erosion

Having lost homesteads and farmlands to river erosion, Assam’s farmers living in makeshift camps seek government intervention, even as state administration tries to rework a rehabilitation scheme announced in 2015