Rural India is home of the original gig-economy worker. Enterprising villagers hop from tilling fields to tending shops, to door-to-door selling each day. Read the latest trends in micro-enterprises, rural start-ups and the shifting livelihoods of India’s villagers.
Livelihoods
This Maharashtra village is home to 10 aromatic rice varieties
Murukate village in Maharashtra grows 10 traditional varieties of rice, with organic fertiliser and the mountain streams that irrigate the fields lending each of them a unique fragrance.
Maharashtra villagers join forces to preserve serene beach
Unlike its boisterous, touristy neighbours like Alibag and Kihim, the rocky beachfront of Awas is untouched by food carts and recreational activities and offers clean serenity that draws loyal visitors.
These unschooled Odisha women are running a farm school
Women farmers of Nuaguda village not only work to preserve traditional rice and millet varieties but also run a school to teach others how to follow sustainable agriculture practices.
Soilless agriculture takes root in Haryana
Farmers in Haryana, aided by a government subsidy, are slowly taking to hydroponics to grow exotic vegetables and leafy greens under controlled temperature in poly houses.
Impact of climate change on Kashmir’s mushroom pickers
Unpredictable weather patterns, early springs, and above-average temperatures have left gucchi mushroom hunters in distress, facing another season of low yield for the second consecutive year.
Glittering Punjabi juttis hide grim story of shoemakers
Colourful and vibrant Punjabi footwear is known worldwide, but its makers are struggling to make a decent living.
‘We lack robust mechanisms to tackle child labour’
Our rescue and rehabilitation policy to address child labour needs to include the kid's education and also the family’s needs, says Shrishti Shankar, who works with Bachpan Bachao Andolan in Jharkhand.
Bengal’s Sabar tribe struggles for survival
One of the poorest communities of India, 20 families of Sabar tribe toil to gather two square meals a day, subsisting on sal fruit, red ant eggs and a meagre government handout of rice.
Old well lone lifeblood for water-parched Bengal village
Residents of a remote village in rural Bengal accuse administrative apathy for their woes, asking why they were left out when all neighbouring villages have piped water supply.