Governance

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Inspired local governance transforms villages in Odanthurai

The Odanthurai village council in southern Tamil Nadu has shown how a Panchayati Raj institution can achieve holistic rural development with the help of wise leadership and community participation

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Musahars overcome fear, but face a long road ahead

Tired of being denied basic human rights and held to be untouchables, Musahars in some villages of Varanasi district are speaking up with help from community activists, but a decent livelihood is still far away

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Organic farming gathers steam in the Sundarbans

Faced with longer and hotter summers, many farmers in the Sundarbans have embraced organic farming with local crop varieties that are better adapted to a changing climate and fetch adequate returns as well

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People with disabilities languish across rural India

Although there are 27 million people in India with disabilities, of which more than 70% live in villages, they are a neglected segment of the population despite pious intentions mouthed by the central and state governments

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Women bear brunt of poor healthcare in rural Kashmir

Healthcare infrastructure is poor in rural areas of Kashmir, and it particularly affects the women, who have to rush to Srinagar to get proper medical attention, as there is a dire shortage of gynecologists in the districts

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How villagers in Poi breathed life back into a forest

In an extraordinary tale of community managed ecological restoration, the residents of Poi village near Kalyan in Maharashtra adopted a degraded forest and turned it into a lush haven of biodiversity

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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

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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

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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

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Farmers reclaim fallow land to cultivate rice in Kerala

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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

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Can managing electricity access empower women in rural India?

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Telcos, techies and teachers: Travesty of digital inclusion in rural India

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Although digital networks have penetrated into remote rural areas, their use is still limited among villagers due to a variety of reasons, the shortcoming of local teachers not the least among them

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Why farmers in this Kerala village pray for peace with Pakistan

Having seen fluctuations in the export of betel leaf to Pakistan over the years, Malappuram betel farmers in northern Kerala remain hopeful of overcoming the present impasse and resuming a profitable trade

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Adivasis in Odisha suffer the most due to malnutrition

Malnourished tribal communities in Odisha have not benefitted from decades-old government schemes aimed at improving health outcomes, mainly due to patchy and apathetic implementation

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How to develop divisible technology for the rural poor

There is a need to develop easily divisible technologies that do not need heavy investment, after taking into consideration social customs and cultural practices of rural users

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Digital push boosts incomes for Sundarbans’ organic farmers

A digital platform has helped women farmers living in the northern fringes of Sundarbans in West Bengal to sell organically grown indigenous rice and other produce directly to customers, helping them to book higher profits