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.
Governance
Toilets as bride price scripts sanitation success in Haryana
A social marketing campaign urging parents of brides to demand toilets at marriage negotiations has led to a dramatic increase of 21% in private sanitation coverage in Haryana, particularly in rural areas
Successful self-governance in Barkheda leads others to embrace gram swaraj
Restoration and effective management of village commons to the financial benefit of the community in Barkheda village of Madhya Pradesh has prompted 90 neighboring villages to adopt self-governance
Varoti villagers demonstrate the power of collective action
A new model of active engagement between villagers, the implementing non-profit and a corporate philanthropic foundation in Varoti village in Maharashtra shows a new way forward for development interventions through the corporate social responsibility route
Singur emerges as procurement hub for local farmers
Once the infamous political battlefield centered on the construction of a car factory, Singur in West Bengal has become a beacon of hope for local farmers, who sell their produce wholesale at fair prices at a state government promoted marketplace
Farmers in Maharashtra fear loss of kharif harvest, blame Met department
Farmers in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra are expecting a decline in crop yield during the autumn harvest and are holding the India Meteorological Department responsible for incorrect forecasting
The shape of India’s non-profits in the 21st century
NGOs in India need to adapt to the shifting landscape of India by working in tandem with the state and markets, and retain their difference. This is a critical reform or perish phase for them.
Is direct benefit transfer really a panacea for the rural poor?
Given the complex and varied situations in rural India, the results of the direct benefit transfer method are so far mixed at best and debilitating at worst, as seen in the subsidies for farm equipment and fertilizers
Collective farm gate procurement offers solutions to cover price crashes
Farmer producer companies have started to play an important role in procurement from smallholders, which guards against price crashes that has been plaguing marginalized farmers across the country despite record harvests
Millets travel from tribal farms to dinner tables
The indigenous Dongria Kondh community in Odisha is helping to restore the popularity of native varieties of millets that can grow in droughty weather conditions, even as millet products gain traction among affluent consumers for their many health benefits