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 …