Ground Report
Claiming the streets: SHGs, women and public spaces
In rural India, women are boldly reclaiming public spaces through self-help groups (SHGs) and collectives. These gatherings are transforming village dynamics, challenging patriarchal norms and enabling economic empowerment.
Bahabanga festival: A cultural identity of the Santhals
The Santhals’ practice of welcoming a new season through rituals, songs and dances during the Bahabanga festival showcases their culture, and demonstrates how their lives revolve around nature and agricultural seasons.
Hope mushrooms for these women of flood-prone Barpeta
A few months ago, four brave women from the Bodo tribe in Assam's Barpeta district started a mushroom farm, bringing hope and empowerment to their flood-prone, poverty-stricken village.
Chashi bandhus help communities restore ecosystem in Bengal
In Bankura district of Bengal, known for its barren hillsides, chashi bandhus or farmers’ friends are recognising the importance of arresting rainwater runoff, and implementing measures to transform the landscape and people’s livelihoods.
How a sarpanch led the facelift of his Gujarat village
Suresh Chhanga of Kunariya gram panchayat in Kachchh district has ushered a transformation in his village, with a focus on safe water and sanitation services, demonstrating how villages can lead in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
With cans of filtered water, she exhibits ‘can do’ entrepreneurial spirit
Unable to sustain her family with an agricultural income, this Jharkhand farmer sees an opportunity in supplying filtered water. With the right support, she establishes herself as a successful entrepreneur and is raring to grow.
Women spearhead claim to community forest rights
In the absence of individual land rights, community forest rights empower tribal women in Gujarat and Odisha, amplifying their voices in village-level decision-making and reaffirming their role in protection and management of their natural resources.
Hakkum Mail wheels in hope for Chhattisgarh’s tribes
Development eluded Sukma district’s tribes due to their remote settlements and sociopolitical conflicts. Hakkum Mail, a new bus service, connects them to services essential for growth and a better quality of life.
Tharu tribes lose identity and livelihood to industrial development
The Tharu tribes of Uttarakhand have a symbiotic relationship with nature. With industrial development bringing in migrants and taking away land, they are at risk of losing their nature-centric way of life and livelihood.
Golden empowerment: Women effect change through turmeric
In a remote village in Jharkhand, women take to turmeric cultivation and processing – learning everything from scratch, transforming their lives and inspiring other women to follow in their footsteps.
Concerted efforts help communities get through Cyclone Remal
While early warning systems help the administration prepare communities to safeguard themselves and their possessions during a cyclone, collaborative post-disaster relief work with other agencies helps people in the Sundarbans recover fast.
Combating desertification and drought in Chhattisgarh
This initiative of Transform Rural India and Hindustan Unilever Foundation is working to restore land and water ecosystems in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh by layering scientific principles while planning and executing local development plans.
Another brick in the wall: The story of a brick-making village
In a village in the periphery of Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, where brick kiln workers toil hard, difficult circumstances force their children to forego education, ending in a cycle of hardships across generations
Reviving healthcare services in the Red Corridor villages
Caught in the conflict between the left-wing extremists and government-supported counterinsurgency militia, villages in Chhattisgarh were devoid of healthcare, till a collaborative effort resulted in the revival of medical centres.
Fostering menstrual health and women’s empowerment in rural India
Providing education, affordable products and fostering a supportive environment can go a long way to empower women and girls, and break taboos around menstrual health.
A youth in Rajasthan becomes the bird man of the desert
A young man who became a guide in the Desert National Park to make a living gets drawn to birds, and learns to identify the local and migratory birds, earning the epithet ‘bird man of the desert’.
Solar energy brings a shining solution for Assam’s villagers
In remote villages of Assam that have no or erratic power supply, locally produced solar energy helps villagers access digital services and also become small entrepreneurs to enhance their income.
This Bengal woman shows there’s money in honey
Chaya Mondal of Tripura Nagar village in West Bengal defied gender norms and took to beekeeping after helping the men in her family rear honeybees. She now runs a successful business through the sale of honey and related products.
Villagers unite to battle forest fires in Odisha
As forests provide them sustenance, residents of Nitigotha village in Odisha unite to contain the forest fire spreading from neighbouring areas and take collaborative steps to prevent fire incidents.
Solar power a money-spinner for women spinning eri silk yarn
Spinning eri silk yarn – though tedious and time-consuming with a traditional tool – is a way of life for women in Meghalaya. Using solar-powered spinning machines, they now spin more yarn and earn more.