Perspectives
Health workers offer rural tele-counseling to contain COVID-19 myths
With lack of access to authentic information, myths and fears proliferate. Health workers counsel communities over phone, addressing their anxieties about the disease and the returned migrants
Farmer producer company bridges consumers and farmers during lockdown
With no transportation, farmers had unsold produce and consumers had no vegetables. With special permission and a mobile app for placing orders, an innovative FPC has fulfilled both needs
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
Minimizing the pain for rural India post COVID-19 pandemic
Understanding the sources that cause rural distress during the nationwide lockdown and post pandemic, there is a need for measures to minimize the rural citizens’ distress
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
Women paralegals help settle disputes at community level
Members of self-help groups, trained in legal aspects, ensure that villagers, especially women, get their entitled rights without resorting to money and time-consuming legal route
Ageing with dignity – A dream worth pursuing
Targeting the elderly, Aging with Dignity initiative brings them primary health care, restores their self-worth and self-respect, and helps them live their twilight years with dignity
How some FPC balloons can become durable high flyers – IV
It is essential to keep the staff of FPCs motivated and introduce financial incentives and insurances to cater to their well-being, for the success and sustenance of FPCs
How some FPC balloons can become durable high flyers – III
Understanding local markets, evolving strategies to develop longstanding engagement with customers, and adopting norms to maintain rapport with members would help FPCs create a sustainable business model
How some FPC balloons can become durable high flyers – II
Members of farmer producer companies being of limited means and the avenues to raise capital being less, the companies can sustain by adopting preventive measures in their operation
Lack of basic amenities adversely affect tribal women’s health
Limited livelihood options forcing tribal men to migrate, women bear household responsibilities. Fetching water and firewood, besides farm work being arduous in the hilly terrains, women endure health challenges
How some FPC balloons can become durable high flyers – I
The success of farmer producer companies floated across the country, would depend on the company’s relationship with its members and delivering on promises made during the launch
Regressive cultural practices lead to skewed sex ratio
Preference for boys disturbs expectant mothers during the very fertility rituals that are meant to bless them, affecting their psyche, besides resulting in low sex ratio and inferior status of women
Of cow urine and human waste: faith, folklore and science
While there is a surfeit of folklore on cow urine as a miracle material, the waste of other cattle and humans, which are also dependable resources, should be checked for efficacy
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
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
Adivasis in Rajasthan demand better local governance
Villagers, especially women, are questioning panchayat institutions being used as tools to push government agenda that do not necessarily align with their needs, and want better local governance
Can a pointed pickaxe pierce a pearl?
There are formidable challenges in delivering welfare services to scattered and disenfranchised groups of people in rural India, and the government machinery is ill-equipped to deal with it
Can handlooms provide a viable rural livelihood?
There are reasons not to give up entirely on the rural handloom sector, and we can learn from northeast India on how artisanal weaving can still be an attractive livelihood option
Only neglected India lives in the villages
On Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, a look at rural India shows that we have fallen much behind his ideal of self-reliant village republics, in part because of changed aspirations of modern times