Read the opinion pieces from those at the sharp end of development world – from practitioners in the field to district officers and even ideators creating schemes for the future. Field Journal is the place for civil society groups to share their experiences and insights – their highs and lows – in their journey to put India on the path to progress.
Ground Report
How Odisha’s Kondh tribe resolves conflicts
The community prefers internal conflict resolution instead of approaching the police or courts since the local mechanism is a cost effective process involving mediation by village elders.
Self-help groups – learning from the roots
While the reasons that motivate women to join self-help groups are the same, developing each group through a facilitative process instead of on a pre-conceived concept works better.
How this young man from MP is ‘ringing’ in a new future
With the right guidance and practical training, this rural youth from Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, has transitioned from a small shop assistant to successfully launching his own mobile phone repairing business.
Multiple income streams sustain tribal families in Assam
From growing multiple crops on forest land they have been cultivating for ages to rearing livestock and weaving, tribal families in Assam rely on different income sources to sustain themselves.
3Ms herald prosperity in troubled Bastar
Bastar, once synonymous with Naxalism, is seeing a slow change for the better through moringa and millet cultivation, besides wage work through the rural employment scheme.
The much-maligned khaaps still have potential
Though rigid at times, the centuries-old informal social institution of khaap can still be effective in solving issues if it adapts to the needs of a changing society.
Women shed ‘forest encroachers’ tag, turn land owners
Dubbed as encroachers in the forest land they tilled, the women of a village in Odisha claim their land rights and get their name recorded on the property document.
Tribal women stitch a new future in Gujarat’s Dang
Left without farm work after the harvesting season ended, women from two villages in Dang district of Gujarat come together to form successful tailoring units.
The ‘queen’ of king chillies in Assam
From growing them commercially to starting a nursery, this woman farmer helps others realise the market potential of bhoot jolokia – one of the hottest chillies in the world.