Power cut

Maharashtra's decentralisation plan gets derailed even before it can take off

E-CONNECTING VILLAGES

‘5G will better connect rural areas’

India plans to begin 5G trials by 2020, but experts and industry stand at odds over its impact on human health and environment. The fifth …

'State govts acquire land by subverting rights and bending the law’

The Centre for Science and Environment filed RTI queries to 28 states to understand how states are circumventing the land acquisition law. The …

Data shows corporates are consistently favoured over rural India

Corporate India gets indirect subsidy equivalent to 60 per cent of government expenditure on rural areas

Ministries in Africa commit to integrate land governance concerns in agriculture

Most of the African ministries of lands have been working on land reforms, but in isolation from the agricultural sector

Report places rural transformation at the heart of economic development

IFAD report bats for emphasis on agriculture and employment to reduce rural poverty

Cast away

After being at the receiving end of both militants and the state government, Kashmir's village heads are now threatening to boycott next year's …

Boss, the real beehive!

Rahul Gandhi’s idea of governance needs fresh focus. How about more autonomy to nearly 240,000 panchayats?

Poplars spark farmers' fury against Wimco

Area farmers in Uttar Pradesh contend match manufacturer Wimco, which had persuaded them to raise poplar trees for its factory, has reneged on …

Employment schemes fail to ease rural poverty

The government's employment generation schemes, laudable though they may be, have yet to achieve their goals. Not involving intended …

Women panchayat presidents are no rubber-stamp leaders

Of the 12,619 Gram Panchayats in Tamil Nadu, one-third or nearly 4,200 panchayats are headed by women -- following the 73rd amendment to the …

Indian science must stop merely aping West

Cynicism is perhaps the natural fallout of a long career within the government machinery. But when Yash Pal, one of the country's leading …

New global agriculture census round to kick off in 2016

Agriculture censuses help to boost rural development and improve food security

Reclaiming retail democracy

Contentious credit

World Bank giving loan for anti-tribal forest project, say Andhra activists

Work for food

Employment guarantee means entitlement to rural livelihood and food security

MALAR miracle

From literacy to economic independence

Devolution suffers setback

India's decentralisation process receives yet another blow

100 per cent FDI in housing

Will Maharashtra boom or boomerang?

Development projects should look beyond low-hanging fruits to bring about actual change

Bihar needs to strengthen and enhance capacities of Gram Panchayats to realise the gains of a decentralised planning

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

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

Why the budget must focus on rural India

India is staring at a rural economic crisis. If the budget does not spend on rural India, the nation’s growth will be badly impacted

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 …

A Gandhian economist ahead of his time

Kumarappa was a close associate of Gandhiji and a firm believer in the theory the village must be made the focus of economic planning. Aware of …