What is good governance? How well can a person or a community access help or push for a needed change? How often are they heard? Village Square shines a light on the people and schemes making the biggest impact or providing the most unique solutions.
Governance
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What this interim budget holds for rural India
While the Rural Development Ministry got increased allocation, with MGNREGS getting a boost, not all schemes saw hikes in the interim budget 2024-25 presented by the Union government on Feb 1.
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On Kolab reservoir’s perilous pathway, villagers await bridge
Despite being a 15-minute drive from Koraput town in Odisha, 138 villages remain isolated due to the absence of a road bridge over the Kolab reservoir. They currently use a two-foot-wide pathway attached to an old railway bridge.
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Tamil Nadu villagers take it upon themselves to build road
With no redressal of their decades-long request, Kottur Malai villagers pool money and labour to lay a six-kilometre mud road to their village.
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Jharkhand’s McCluskieganj struggles to stay alive
McCluskieganj, a charming hill town near Ranchi, faces an uncertain fate. It grapples with decaying colonial structures, a departed Anglo-Indian community, and environmental threats posed by illegal brick kilns.
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Jharkhand villagers waiting to see ‘light’
Residents of three hamlets in Jharkhand continue to live in darkness as electricity supply is yet to reach them. Lack of hospitals and schools in the vicinity adds to their woes.
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Former bonded labourers champion justice in Punjab
In the heartland of Punjab, people who once endured the shackles of debt and bondage now dedicate their lives to freeing others.
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Poor facilities plague Rajasthan’s anganwadis
With dilapidated buildings that often do not have basic facilities such as water and electricity, the anganwadis in Rajasthan are not able to fully ensure the development of children.
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Mokhada tribal villagers don’t fear the rains anymore
In the quaint tribal taluka of Mokhada nestled in the Sahyadri hills, the construction of a concrete bridge and a tar road marks the beginning of a new chapter.
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Is rural India on the brink of a renaissance?
Will Indian villages be part of the country's galloping growth? A leading development conference holds over 100 conversations to find out.