Understanding Gandhi

GANDHI’S VISION AND VALUES — THE MORAL QUEST FOR CHANGE IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE·Vivek Pinto·Sage, New Delhi, 1998

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 

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

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

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?

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

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

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 …

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

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

Maintenance boards made mandatory along rural roads built with central funds

Rural development ministry says installing boards along roads built under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana will help communities monitor …

The poorest shun MGNREGA

Participation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes in the scheme has halved in five years

Beware of Policymakers

PEOPLE, PLANTS AND PATENTS: THE IMPACT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ON BIODIVERSITY, CONSERVATION, TRADE AND RURAL SOCIETY·Crucible group&…

Political economy of welfare

The BJP-led government's change of heart for big-ticket rural programmes says a lot about its dwindling political fortune

A million opportunities lost

The ruling alliance’s flagship rural employment programme took unprecedented strides in creating water conservation structures across the …

Can COVID-19 pandemic help India foster rural livelihoods and build resilient villages?

The shift of balance created by COVID-19 has revealed that urban centres, while important, need not be the sole creator of jobs or economic …

Land use policy for the country on anvil

Rural development ministry revives two-decade old plan to demarcate the country according to land use to avert conflicts

Born at 44

Odisha village gets pattas after nearly half a century. Land reform programmes get jumpstart

Water turns the tide

A barren district of Rajasthan is seeing development, thanks to rains last year and flood in 2006

Civil society seconds rural development ministry’s demand for MGNREGA funds

The rural development ministry had recently demanded an additional allocation of Rs 5,000 crore to maintain the momentum of MGNREGA

Centre launches MGNREGA 2.0

30 new types of work added to the rural job guarantee scheme list to restore demand for work under UPA's flagship welfare programme

Pitfalls of a uniform food regime

In face of drought and rising food prices, attention shifts to local diet and food diversity

Is new land bill up to mark?

Draft land bill proposes higher compensation for land acquisitions, but complaints persist  

Big idea

Monsoon vegetable jackfruit has caught the fancy of entrepreneurs in India, one of its biggest producers