MGNREGA
Union Budget 2025: Agriculture key to development
Village Square breaks down the policies announced as a part of the Union Budget 2025 that are likely to impact rural India the most.
Mixed signals for rural sector in latest Union Budget
India's 2024-25 Budget presents a mixed bag for rural development. With increased overall funding but cuts in crucial programmes like MGNREGS, the coming year will reveal if these allocations can effectively address the challenges faced by the rural economy.
Mangoes bring sweet returns in Jharkhand
From barren fields to flourishing mango orchards, Rajkumar Yadav's journey showcases the transformative impact of Birsa Harit Gram Yojna on rural livelihoods in Jharkhand.
MGNREGA — How more rural women can join the workforce
Appointing women mates has increased the participation of women in the rural workforce. But identifying and addressing issues will ensure choosing the right candidates and produce better results.
Empowering Punjab’s rural women
The essence of the rural employment guarantee scheme lay obscured in many villages of Punjab, veiled by the shadows of ignorance. But a women's collective is helping to empower beneficiaries across nearly 3,000 villages.
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.
The MGNREGA worker who won an Asian Games medal
From digging pits as a daily wage labourer to taking the podium at Hangzhou, China, Asian Games medallist Ram Baboo has come a long way. But his village continues to wait for many facilities, the athlete tells us.
MGNREGA: Armed with app, Odisha women show the way
Women of Talabaitarini village in Odisha set an example of tenacity, battling bureaucratic hurdles to finally receive the wages due to them under the rural employment scheme with the help of a mobile app.
Maharashtra village blossoms into green haven
With over 32,000 trees flourishing under its care, and waste management and healthcare upgrades under its belt, Gamewadi village in Maharashtra is now marching towards becoming a tourist hub for nature lovers.
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.
Digging pits to build lives the Chhattisgarh way
In a planned, coordinated effort by the government and other agencies, the employment guarantee scheme brings positive changes to the lives of tribal people in the extremism-affected Bastar.
How poor breadwinners hit digital hurdle
Online procedures to avail of government welfare entitlements are big hurdles to unlettered villagers that sometimes lead to delays and loss, often adding to the distress of the rural poor
Oriya bonded labor languish after being rescued
Migrant workers from western Odisha who are rescued from bondage at destination sites continue to languish in poverty for want of rural employment and rehabilitation support
Debts drive breadbasket farmers to daily wage labor
With farm income failing to keep pace with their debts, a large number of small and marginal farmers in Punjab and Haryana have started supplementing household earnings through daily wage labor
Watermelons stem distress migration in Odisha’s hunger belt
Forced to migrate due to poverty and recurrent droughts, and with no better life in faraway brick kilns, farmers in western Odisha have turned to watermelon cultivation, reaping rich benefits
Digital technology remains elusive for Rajasthan villagers
Residents of Rawatpura village in Udaipur have been left behind in the digital technology revolution of the country, but they hope that their children are able to catch up with the fast-paced development