Health & Nutrition
Dry land distress drives people to break stones in quarries
A lack of livelihood opportunities is compelling villagers of Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh to take up jobs in local stone quarries, where unregulated work conditions are often extremely hazardous for their health
Jaisalsar in Bikaner banishes child marriage from its homes
The villages in the desert of Rajasthan are notorious for child brides but groups of girls are now banding together to defy and upturn a long held tradition to assure a new and better future for themselves
Interventions to stop child marriages raise hopes in Odisha
The practice of underage marriage is acute in the tribal-dominated southern and southwestern parts of Odisha, but interventions on the ground are planting the seeds of change among adolescent girls and their parents
Breaking the norm of child marriage an uphill task in Uttar Pradesh
A detailed baseline study conducted in seven districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh shows that underage marriages are still widely prevalent, particularly in disadvantaged communities, and this practice holds back girls from realizing their full potential
Palghar tribal village says no to child marriages
Despite a long-held tradition of marrying off girls once they reach 15 years of age, a tribal village in the underdeveloped area of Maharashtra has stopped the ill-advised practice of child marriage for the past two years
Rural children in Tamil Nadu remain at risk from snakebites
An underreported tragedy, not enough is being done to contain and treat injuries and death of children in rural Tamil Nadu due to snakebites, although it affects around 15% to 19% of kids in the countryside
Vadu women emerge as agents of change as health recorders
The regular recording to health-related data through computer tablets is helping in designing and implementing food, nutrition and healthcare interventions on the ground in several areas of Pune district
Women continue to bear the burden of contraception
A trend analysis of the latest National Family Health Survey shows that women are compelled to be responsible for keeping family sizes small even as contraceptive prevalence rate declines in many states in India
Women forced to bathe in the open in Odisha villages
A village-level analysis of availability of bathrooms in Odisha shows that not enough attention is paid to the clear and urgent need for secluded bathing spaces for women in rural areas
Majra in the Aravallis sets cleanliness standards in Rajasthan
Not content with just building toilets, the village in Neemrana block of Alwar district has started implementing a solid and liquid waste management plan that includes segregation of trash at source
Rural men must realize women need secluded bathing spaces
Women taking a bath in the open is a common enough sight in the countryside, which needs to change. For that to happen, it is important to change the mindset of men and their insensitivity towards the issue
Opportunity cost of personal hygiene too high for rural women
Women in India’s villages still have to pay a high cost in terms of mental and physical pain and financial loss because they are often compelled to neglect personal hygiene by bathing hurriedly in the open
Remote village in Karbi Anglong sets cleanliness benchmark
The young people of Shikdamakha in Assam didn’t wait for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to set standards in sanitation, which has today resulted in the village being one of the cleanest in the entire country
Arsenic contamination in groundwater killing villagers in Ballia
High levels of arsenic in the water supply is afflicting many villages in eastern Uttar Pradesh but the government hasn’t been able to design and implement any program to contain the menace
Impure honey eats into small producers’ margins
Independent and small beekeepers are uniting against adulterated and diluted honey sold in the domestic market by companies fighting a price war
Malkangiri child deaths: disease or malnourishment?
The large number of children dying in Malkangiri district of Odisha has been officially attributed to Japanese Encephalitis and malaria but villagers and civil society organisations say that malnourishment has contributed to these avoidable deaths
Integrated organic farming revives Nemmeli’s fields
A holistic method of organic farming has reversed the harm reached to Nemmeli village due to high-intensity, high-inputs agriculture. It has also helped in pushing back soil salinity
Women are leading the sanitation campaign in Bihar villages
Although Bihar has been a laggard in implementing the Swachh Bharat program, there is heartening progress in places such as Rohtas, Sitamarhi and Khagaria, where women are driving the change for health and sanitation
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
Is rural India headed for a demographic disaster?
An army of sickly and poorly educated children growing up in villages will continue to drag down the country as adults unless the nation’s nutrition and education delivery systems are made more efficient