45% of migrants will stay back in Uttarakhand, says CM Rawat

Down To Earth speaks to Uttarkhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat about his government’s efforts to keep residents from migrating

Civil society rejects recommendation of Nagesh Singh committee on MGNREGS

Activists say that the committee was set up to invalidate the recommendation of previous committee on wages under the employment gaurantee scheme

In Parliament on December 16, 2016

A round up of environment- and development-related discussions in the parliament today 

Going backward

As the Maratha community in Maharashtra finally gets 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education, Down To Earth profiles other …

MGNREGS: ‘Monument of failure’ or ‘saviour’?

On the 10th anniversary of the rural job guarantee scheme, Down To Earth evaluates its successes and drawbacks

Making sense of `Make in India'

Manufacturing needs to get a boost. But what to manufacture and how are two critical questions

A tale of two villages beguiled by JRY

The panchayats of Sonrai in Uttar Pradesh and Palana in Rajasthan share a Jawahar Rozgar Yojana experience. Both ignored the water needs of the …

Rapped for inaction

SC takes governments to task over tardiness in executing food-based employment schemes following starvation deaths in Rajasthan

Increased funding for bamboo project

China's stupendous success in exploiting bamboo for economic gains appears to have prompted India to follow suit. The heightened interest in this …

Manual scavenging prohibition Bill: how effective?

Activists say provisions for rehabilitation in the Bill are vague, and will only work to perpetuate existing problems

Recharge plan: Tupewadi’s tryst with MGNREGA a boost to water table

Having depleted groundwater, Jalna farmers replenish the resource through bunds

Union Budget 2020-21: Total rural budgetary allocation, including MGNREGA slashed

This comes even as rural India is suffering its worst unemployment crisis in 45 years

Union Budget 2019-20: First time in five years, MGNREGA gets Rs 1,084 crore less

Budget allocation for Ministry of Rural Development gets Rs 5,200 crore extra

Caste discrimination at work place, says ILO report

News Snippets

Tribals turn violent

Fourth industrial revolution: ‘4IR critical for India’

India has a well thought out ecosystem of data and a young population that can be skilled for the new technologies

Unpaid for months, MGNREGA workers protest in national capital

3-day demonstation by workers from across the country; Demand for more funds allocation to employment programme

COVID-19 response: Inclusion of women must for more resilient post-pandemic India

Policy responses should also aim to build women’s ability to cope with future shocks

Drought, but why: Several districts in peril every year

Despite 40 years of efforts and huge resource allocation, drought continues to hit the same districts over and again

Resetting the Africa-Europe Relationship

Africa faces a broad range of development challenges and overcoming them will require huge sums of foreign aid and investment. But as Africa …

Book One Valley and A Thousand Dams, Nationalism and Development

Book>> Daniel Klingensmith, 'One Valley and a Thousand' Dams, Nationalism and Development Oxford University Press New Delhi 2007

‘Rethink economics of poverty’

Want poor families in north India to immunise their children? Offer the parents a small bag of lentils as an incentive and vaccination rates make …

MGNREGA activist gangraped in Bihar

Victim dies on way to hospital; she had angered influential landlords of her village

Time to be different