Many farmers in Jharkhand have started taking progressive steps as rural entrepreneurs, offering a host of services to help local smallholders move beyond subsistence agriculture and towards increased incomes
Self-help groups in villages bring financial and social empowerment to women, changing entrenched perceptions on their competence in managing their affairs
Linking technology and Aadhaar unique identity numbers, the direct benefit transfer of fertilizer subsidy in Andhra Pradesh has helped in curbing malpractices and has benefited farmers by preventing leakages
Leather workers and people who deal with cattle carcasses remain an oppressed minority in villages across India, languishing at the bottom rung of rural society and ignored by governments at all levels
After men migrate for work, women of Mousuni Island in the Sundarbans in West Bengal have to struggle for survival, losing land to floods and erosion, and livelihoods to salinity ingress
Many farmers in India, the world’s top coconut producing country, have successfully introduced coconut farming in arid regions to meet growing demand and to boost earnings
Despite insufficient income, lean periods during monsoons and unexpected hardship such as the floods this year, the Sumra Muslim potters return every year to Sarkhej Roza, where the pots they make are bought by Hindu wholesale traders, evoking secular unity
A significant portion of the government’s flagship Make in India initiative can be realized in the country’s rural areas through enterprises that have potential to benefit and provide employment to a large number of people
Designing and building the temporary pavilions that house the deity during West Bengal’s biggest annual festival remains the preserve of rural artisans — chiefly farmers and folk artists — despite an increasing presence of professionals from creative arts in this field
Judicious use of wild uncultivated foods and revival of indigenous crops are helping the Dongria Kondh tribe of Niyamgiri to boost food security beyond their successful campaign against mining giant Vedanta
