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
Demonetization and the rural poor in five dimensions
The junking of high value currency notes has led to an unprecedented situation where the poor are more at risk from manipulation by the unscrupulous than from any crippling financial loss in the short or medium terms, barring exceptions
Political turmoil leaves Kashmir’s education sector in tatters
Four months of closed schools in the middle of an academic year has left an entire generation of Kashmiri students in the lurch although there are some scattered efforts at makeshift community schools
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
Women in Guphu show power of collective action
Collective action has enabled many women in Khunti in Jharkhand to rise out of poverty, providing them with new opportunities and ensuring greater choice in their lives
Community initiative recharges water table in Kumbharwalan village
Collective action through a pani panchayat (water council) has enabled a remote village in Pune district of Maharashtra to provide for adequate irrigation in this rain shadow area prone to droughts
Another autumn of uncertainty for Kashmir’s saffron farmers
A most prized harvest, the falling production of saffron in the villages of Pulwama is now a serious concern for the many farmers who have been traditionally cultivating the rare flower
Social forestry provides useful lessons in participatory democracy
The road to participatory democracy cannot be paved with good intentions alone but needs resources, sustained work and self-critical reflection by villages and voluntary organizations alike
Can this crisis in the heart of India be allowed to continue?
The economic exploitation and developmental neglect of the core tribal areas of India’s eastern plateau and hills across Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have to be tackled through practical solutions unhindered by ideological blinkers
Camel herders of Kachchh fall into decline as commons shrink
The unt maladharis (camel pastoralists) of Kutchch have seen their herds dwindle as pastures are appropriated and the unique swimming camel struggles to find mangroves to graze upon