Village life pivots around women. And – at the same time – they are often pushed to sidelines, quietened, ignored. Here we look at how and why that happens, and champion those working to change it. We would also feature LGBTQ individuals and communities who are all too often overlooked in rural India.
Gender
Revival of traditional sattu helps village women make a living
Women in rural Nalanda are popularizing the use of a traditional grinding stone to pound flour out of roasted gram, providing a healthier alternative to machine-ground sattu and earning a livelihood for themselves
Rural women’s collectives are all about empowerment
Self-help groups in villages bring financial and social empowerment to women, changing entrenched perceptions on their competence in managing their affairs
Fetching water adds to the drudgery of J&K women
Lacking piped water supply, young girls and women in rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir spend hours walking long distances to get water far from their homes and waiting for their turn at the source
Women-centric interventions needed for flood-ravaged Sundarbans islands
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
Community radios in Odisha help improve gender parity
Broadcasting programs on gender inequality and against stigmas suffered by women in Odisha, community radio stations have effected a positive change in rural communities where girls are still the ignored population
Today’s Meerabai quenches thirst in Rajasthan villages
Stepping into an all-male preserve, mechanic Meerabai Meena of Padoona village in Udaipur district traverses hilly terrain every day, repairing hand pumps to ensure safe drinking water for residents in five villages
Women in Pakur use education to achieve development goals
With a strong belief that education would lead the community to achieve sustainable development goals, a night school in Ilami panchayat in Jharkhand educates and empowers women
Jharkhand kitchen gardens add nutrition to food basket
Kitchen gardens tended by women in Gumla district boost rural diets by providing a rich variety of local cereals, pulses and vegetables, cut expenditure on purchases while improving their nutritional status
Women of Lalganj mobilize community to bring doctors to their doorsteps
Increased healthcare expenses and lack of access to hospitals prompt a women’s collective in eastern Uttar Pradesh to run a biweekly village clinic on family subscriptions