Rural ventures

A slew of elementary schemes aim to alleviate poverty

Repeat and step it up

A consumer movement is born

Villages plug into the grid, manage their own supply  

Bengal MGNREGA workers lost up to Rs 6,046 crore in wages during April-December 2022

 A study estimates that workers have lost income by 83%, compelling them to borrow money for survival 

Budget 2017-18 expectations: ensure food security, minimise rural distress

This year’s budget must focus on preventing farmer suicides, strengthening crop insurance scheme and guaranteeing rural employment

MGNREGA scheme failed on many counts: report

In the last five years, the average person days of work generated per household under MGNREGS remained less than 50 across years

Bihar cancels 7.25 million unused job cards under MGNREGS

The move is aimed at stopping various malpractices related to seeking jobs under the scheme

Building dreams for homeless

Government promises land to the homeless in its draft Homestead Bill, but where’s the land?

Rural development

Several flagship schemes have faced huge cuts in annual allocation

First comes chick

Kuroiler hens offer a poultry business model that can fight poverty, nutritional stress

Why only panchayats?

Other local associations can also manage watersheds effectively

IN SHORT

NREGA needs a paradigm shift

Budget leak backward districts get short shrift

Rural employment guarantee scheme does not work as envisaged

India has a failed salvation policy on the not-so-holy buffalo

India’s only scheme to leverage the expanding buffalo meat exports has been in doldrums. To make it work, the government must first get rid …

West Bengal Panchayat election: Candidates in fray campaign on green issues

Environmentalists welcome trend, but point out slack from mainstream political parties 

Safe as houses

Earthquakes don't kill; badly built houses do. A look into houses in India that have withstood several earthquakes

Power to the people

Heads of panchayats arrived in the Capital to demand the power to effectively run the traditional self-government

'Privatisation has increased rural neglect'

The northeast has been badly affected by ethnic strife. DILIP GOGOI of Cotton College, Guwahati, on its vulnerabilit

Threadbare clothes, school drop outs due to lack of uniforms: West Bengal MGNREGA workers’ lives in tatters

Central government’s freeze on funds for rural employment scheme has completely degraded villagers’ living conditions

DTE ground report: Why does this Uttarakhand town want its village status back?

Muradi Gram Panchayat was dissolved in 2018 and merged with a Nagar Panchayat. However, residents claim they only lost out on their village …

Government tries to harvest success with farmer-friendly Budget

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

The Bharat Nirman outpour

Rs 174,000 crore sanctioned for new scheme to build rural infrastructure

Karnataka legislature amends state Panchayati Raj Act