In Birsa's Land: Horomocho (Hazaribagh, Jharkhand)

A coal mine to own and manage • Sustainability not profit as a principle • Revival of an ancient Santhal system of governance

Unshakable: Nimalapedu (Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh)

Reminded India of its constitutional mandate for village autonomy • Fought bauxite companies for not getting gram sabha consent • Has …

A Republican Paradise: Mendha (Gadchirolli, Maharashtra)

Defied the Forest Act ÔÇó Every resident contributes part of annual income for community works ÔÇó If somebody bribes a …

Push to include access to energy in UN development goals

Speakers at a consultative meeting in Delhi call for finding sustainable and affordable technological solutions for making energy accessible to …

Direct Cash Transfer scheme begins on low key

Government scales down UID-linked scheme to 248,000 people in 20 districts

Afforestation wages in cash

Chhattisgarh violates Supreme Court order

Eucalyptus, acacia and teak, not Sal: Why CAG is critical of Odisha’s afforestation efforts

There was an ‘acute shortfall’ in achieving plantation targets in Odisha due to lack of coordination, working plan, improper …

Why social health activists in India live a life of uncertainty

More than 0.87 million ASHAs in India are facing salary issues, lack of incentives and exclusion from social safety schemes

We need our slaves

India tops the list of countries with huge numbers of modern slaves. But there is little outrage or concern here over what is an everyday reality

When birth control means business

Government’s scheme to give monetary remuneration to health workers for counselling couples on family planning may just backfire, says …

Real estate on water

Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative …

Promising water

Not being kept in loop: Odisha’s sarpanches on CM’s power decentralisation move

Several sarpanches who were given powers of district collectors alleged their administrative or financial roles were not spelt out clearly 

US fights climate change impacts on its military assets

Around 7,500 of its defence installations across the world are vulnerable to impacts like sea level rise, storm and snow melting

DRDA faces axe

District Rural Development Agency in conflict with Constitution; committee suggests its abolition

A lame duck Schedule of the Constitution

The true potential of the Fifth Schedule was diluted right at its conception

Lost track

Ahmedabad authorities plan to scrap cycle lanes in upcoming bus rapid transit corridors

Major embankment repair works delayed in Bihar

Some of them awaiting nod of Ganga Flood Control Committee

Improving mobility for clean air: Why cities fall short of their goals

Transportation and mobility strategies are the weakest link in the National Clean Air Action Plans 

Contraceptive use among women rises in western states, Goa tops the charts: NFHS-5 data

Use of injectables and male sterilisation tools continued to be low across all states in the region 

What happened to India’s flood management plan?

There is no national-level flood control authority in India — 43 years after the country’s first and last commission …

Uprooted for the sake of compensatory afforestation

To compensate for forest land diversion for Parsa coal block, Chhattisgarh government identifies 16 villages without approval from gram sabhas

Save and Grow: a guide to sustainable cereal production

The technique focuses on conservation agriculture, maintaining soil health, selecting crops with higher yield potential and greater resistance to …

Health goals of 11th Five-Year Plan unmet. 12th Plan hopes to achieve them

Planning Commission's working group recommends repeating last Plan targets in the 12th Plan

Real estate on water

Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative …