Governance

What is good governance? How well can a person or a community access help or push for a needed change? How often are they heard? Village Square shines a light on the people and schemes making the biggest impact or providing the most unique solutions.

her life

The grey and grim hues of rural India

In travelling to the less fortunate parts of the countryside, it is difficult to come to terms with the stark poverty, squalid living conditions and bleak prospects of the young living in the neglected parts of our country

her life

Women in rural Uttar Pradesh declare war on skin infections

Through the community village clinics they have established, women collectives in parts of rural Uttar Pradesh have started campaigning successfully against fungal infections that affect the quality of their lives

her life

India’s bureaucracy has failed its forest dwellers

The country’s particularly vulnerable tribal groups, who live mostly in dwindling forests, have not been well served by the government’s administrative machinery, but have slowly been reduced to virtual serfdom

her life

Farmers reclaim fallow land to cultivate rice in Kerala

and

In a landscape dominated by cash crops, many farmers in Kerala have started growing paddy on land lying fallow for decades after being encouraged by the state government to cultivate on barren fields

her life

Can managing electricity access empower women in rural India?

and

Even as India provides electricity to all villages, it is important to reflect on how electrification affects men and women in different ways, and the opportunities that decentralized energy access creates for sustainable gender-balanced development

her life

The importance of succlure and faiccess in rural development

It is not always easy to measure the success in any rural development intervention because it often depends on the differing frames of reference of the village community and that of the grassroots worker

her life

Dharmapuri has forgotten the many names for rain

Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall in the drought-prone dry land farms of Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu is making rain-fed agriculture non-viable but some women farmers are adapting by growing millets

her life

Women feel the heat of climate change in rural Manipur

Women farmers in Manipur, who play a significant role in the state's agriculture, are struggling to grow crops in an increasingly hostile environment of north-east India

her life

Digital technology remains elusive for Rajasthan villagers

Residents of Rawatpura village in Udaipur have been left behind in the digital technology revolution of the country, but they hope that their children are able to catch up with the fast-paced development