Drought but why

It is time we understood that since drought is human-made it can be reversed

Government tries to harvest success with farmer-friendly Budget

The 2016 Budget has the right intent for the rural sector, but lacks clarity

MGNREGS workers in Kerala to get pension

State and Centre to contribute Rs 1,000 each per head

Elusive hunt for skills and jobs

Budget outlays will not do much for job creation or readying youth for skilled work

Agents of change

Gramdoots, or village volunteers, mobilise people to get government machinery moving

Jairam Ramesh releases NREGS funds to Uttar Pradesh with conditions attached

Move coincides with Rahul Gandhi's public relations campaign in poll-bound state

Afforestation wages in cash

Chhattisgarh violates Supreme Court order

The swing

More women than men are voting in India. Majority of them are from rural areas

Movement for worse

The marginalised from Western Odisha who migrate out of the state lead difficult lives

Big hikes in rural spending

Funds for MGNREGA maintained at Rs.33,000 crore, same as in 2012-13

Victim of its success

MGNREGA blamed for causing labour shortage; cut in budgetary support likely

Jobs and the environment

No toilet at home? Can’t contest local body polls in Bihar, says Nitish

State government to make amendments to the existing Bihar Panchayati Raj Act

Foodgrains risk rot

No place to store seven million tonnes of procured foodgrains

Sweet beris of Thar

Residents dig shallow wells to tap sweet water reserves

The desperation of farmers

A debt-ridden state can offer little to its indebted farmers

Mourn

But it is better to take Andhra Pradesh as a challenge

Village Punukula's different

Managing yields without pesticides

Out on their own

Government delivery programmes provide little support to farmers

Sunita's Bytes on Budget

In Short

Drought hit

Jharkhand’s water table falls three metres in one year

Labour exit

Labour shortage in agriculture forces Indian farmers to innovate to stay afloat

Uttar Pradesh to revive dry rivulets under MGNREGS

Revival of small river in Fatehpur district shows the way