Another ornamental scheme
The proposed National Rural Employment Guarantee Act threatens to become just that
When participation holds sway
Gouditikra in Orissa provides a model of how community participation can transform a village
Will women in panchayats change Bengal?
West Bengal is making what could be another step towards village self-rule, where villagers, including women, will decide what is best for them, …
Taken for granted
It's called outreach
Indian science is in Space, but not its villages
Gandhian scheme provides rural health care
A seWhelp programme provides the poorest villagers in the area surrounding Mahoin Gandhi's Sevagrom ashrom with access to quality medical care.
The answers within
Swadhyay, which literally means study of the self, is a movement that has introduced realistic social change in India's rural communities
Large promises
Prime Minister Vajpayee is terribly interested in rural development these days. On his birthday he inaugurated Swajaldhara, a nation-wide water …
Should NABARD regulate micro-finance?
Tissue culture in a pressure cooker
A new tissue culture technique that is claimed to be cheap and easy to understand is fast gaining popularity.
Villegers blueprint their own development
MYRADA moves a step forward in rural appraisal programmes, emphasising the necessity of involving villagers in their own development.
Breaking the rural barrier
The Centre for Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas, set up in 1974, was a bold effort at bringing appropriate technology to the …
Going the bio way
The Biovillage project provides rural folk the finance and technical knowhow to cultivate for the market while conserving water and soil
Divisive move
Attempted panchayati raj reforms in Madhya Pradesh
It holds no water
Shoddy planning and poor execution mar many watershed revival projects
The ground for grassroots technology
A Delhi-based agency has improved the standard of living of a Himachal Pradesh village by providing it simple devices at subsidised rates
Devolution is bankrupt
Now even the World Bank says money should flow to local bodies directly
DRDA faces axe
District Rural Development Agency in conflict with Constitution; committee suggests its abolition
A question of control
Karnataka's new panchayati raj law has sparked a debate, with the Congress government saying it gives the people more power and opposition …
Earnest endeavours
West Bengal's women panchayat members have become the torchbearers of rural development programmes in the state
A travesty of justice
The new rehabilitation policy for project displaced persons is official jargon mongering
Artisans the untold story
Despair and devastation stare India's artisans in their face, as resource crunch, modern civilisation and government apathy combine in an …
Boss, the real beehive!
Rahul Gandhi’s idea of governance needs fresh focus. How about more autonomy to nearly 240,000 panchayats?
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 …