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
Campaign by tribal women groups brings down alcoholism in Attappadi
When women living around Attappadi Reserve Forest found that no development was possible due to chronic alcoholism among the tribal men, they banded together to rid the area of the menace and start a labor bank for employment
Drummer girls of Bengal step up with a new beat
Despite long neglect, the dhak might be getting a new lease of life as women have stormed a male bastion and have taken up playing Bengal’s traditional big drum
Rural women in Samastipur welcome liquor ban in Bihar
Supported wholeheartedly by women in Samastipur district, the prohibition of alcohol in Bihar has freed up resources that can now be leveraged to bring about significant social transformation
Women standing united can power sustainable social change
Women’s collectives can go a long way in sustainably changing socio-economic conditions of villages for the better, often going far beyond planned interventions by state or civil society actors
A tale of two women and a watershed
Two unlearned women in a remote area of Bihar have broken gender stereotypes to emerge as community leaders and manage the construction of a watershed that now benefits 12 villages
Currency tsunami hits Kerala fisher village
The poor women of Anju Thengue island village in Kerala have been caught unprepared by the ban on banknotes that has seen prices crash and a near total collapse of the fish market
Women are leading the sanitation campaign in Bihar villages
Although Bihar has been a laggard in implementing the Swachh Bharat program, there is heartening progress in places such as Rohtas, Sitamarhi and Khagaria, where women are driving the change for health and sanitation
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
Gorang Valley battles water woes as perennial springs retreat
Drying streams in this region of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand have made life difficult for women as they wait for efforts at watershed management to bear fruit in a couple of years