Perspectives
How development excludes India’s tribal people
Failing to understand the tribal world view and imposing the dominant development paradigm on adivasi communities is affecting their identity and well-being
Income support is healthy tonic for smallholder farmers
Instead of farm loan waivers and minimum support price for crops that distort resource allocation and markets, basic income support to small and marginal farmers is a far better state mechanism
How useful will farmer support be?
It will not be easy to optimally deploy the basic income support announced by the government for small and marginal farmers. The scheme has large exclusions in the landless and the women as well
Participation key to empowering Juang tribes
Treating Juang tribes of Odisha as participants in the development process rather than as recipients of development largesse will help bringing them into the national mainstream
Can data-driven social enterprises boost farmer incomes?
A collaboration between technological and value chain enterprises working directly with farmers could help make the farm to fork value chain more organized and efficient, thus increasing returns to cultivators
The unending saga of farm distress in India
Farmers in India will continue to suffer unless there is a fundamental change in the pro-urban policy bias of propping up unsustainably low food prices
Unsafe behavior rampant in the countryside
Whether it is a national trait or simply a rural folly, there is a need to examine the cavalier neglect of basic safety rules that pervades life in villages across the country
Money & manhood: changing gender roles in rural homes
In times of increasing agrarian stress and uncertain incomes, women in villages are becoming as much providers of families as men, but the vice grip of patriarchy refuses to slacken
Blending tribal people into India’s mainstream
Efforts to meet the aspirations of India’s tribal population would essentially mean their greater integration with the national mainstream, which would also reduce their drive for sub-cultural identity
Agripreneurs can revive smallholder agriculture
Encouraging community service providers to function as agripreneurs is an effective and proven way to improve the lives of smallholder farmers by increasing agricultural productivity
Rural crime and policing in India’s villages
Even as crime in rural India increases, particularly against marginalized communities, minorities and women, more effective policing is required to strengthen deterrence and enforce rule of law
Can agriculture be profitable and sustainable?
While commercialization of agriculture has led to an increase in profits in South Asia – a region marred by poverty and child malnutrition – short-term benefits may hide long-term risks
#MeToo movement yet to reach rural India
Although women routinely suffer sexual harassment at work in villages, the stranglehold of patriarchy and the scepter of social shaming hold them back from voicing their outrage and seeking redress
Revive traditional wisdom for healthy life in villages
India has a rich heritage of local health traditions and reviving these diverse ethno-medical practices could ensure long and healthy lives for people in the countryside without spending huge amounts of money
Gram swaraj in a globalizing world
Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of economically self-sufficient villages is at a distinct variance with the ideas and policies of liberalization, trade and globalization. Is it possible to strike a middle path?
Rural youth: old prejudices or real disadvantages?
Despite long-held notions that young people in villages lack better life opportunities, the current situation of youth in urban areas and their proximate countryside is not too different in many parts of India
India’s traditional wisdom in coping with extreme weather
In large parts of the subcontinent where floods or droughts are annual or recurring events, people in rural areas have evolved location-specific strategies to deal with the disasters and unusual weather
Of kamranga and kachnar: vanishing flavors and shrinking food basket
Innumerable varieties of native fruits and leafy vegetables found in different parts of India are becoming rare on dinner tables. We should make efforts to revive them for a more varied and nutritious food basket
Land ownership for women needs more attention
The dismal status of women’s property rights in India continues to be a nagging socio-development challenge despite a slew of progressive laws, which need political commitment and institutionalized support
When the rural elite hijacks welfare schemes
Although there are multiple factors that interfere with the fair implementation of rural welfare programs, it is important to break the stranglehold of the rural elite and often co-opted local administration