A natural secret

Policymakers don't need to go too far to eradicate poverty. The solution is as close as is a village well to a villager

Mandla Brimful of thirst

Average rainfall: 1,300 mm Irrigation: 2% of gross cropped area

Sarguja Losing battle

First district for tribal development Rampant deforestation Malnutrition and starvation deaths

Dungarpur A 'common' death

Once rich in forest and grazing land Now known as 20th century desert 68% population 'marginal and unemployed'

Phulbani Access to poverty

Sal forest worth: Rs 30,000 crore 85% population dependent on forest 65% people below poverty line

Costly largesse

US unveils safety net for its farmers, shackling global free trade and posing a threat to environment

Stink over missing toilets: ministry initiates probe

CAG audit may be sought if states fail to disclose correct information, says secretary for drinking water and sanitation

Jharkhand proposes MGNREGA worker unions

Work demand under the rural employment programme is decreasing in the state

The laboratory of development

Agriculture Don't fix is the government's fix

Saga of two villages

Sukhomajri was a dirt-poor village in Haryana. It started pulling itself out of its hole in the late 1970s, making a dizzying ascent to …

The panchayat outrage

It was a vote for self-governance, not self-determination. No panchayat election in the country ever created as much hype as that of Jammu and …

CAG indicts Bihar for irregularities in rural job scheme implementation

Only 35 per cent beneficiaries got jobs; half of civil work undertaken left incomplete

A hard rain’s falling

Sayantan Bera tells the story of a man and a state, paralysed inside the remote islands of Sundarbans

When markets do work

Hiware Bazar - A village with 54 millionaires

Hiware Bazar, a village in Maharashtra's drought-prone Ahmednagar district, was sliding into an abyss after degrading its environment. But in …

Hunger games – it’s the real India show

The road ahead

Jute, coir and waste material are set to make rural roads economic and eco-friendly

Operation Saranda: from Maoists to Miners

India’s mysterious diseases: ‘We need a public health system’

Human health management is dismally low in India, says T Jacob John, virologist and former professor at Christian Medical College, Vellore

Inheritance of loss

Whatever the poverty line, 50 per cent people in India will remain poor

Last ditch attempt

UPA gives sops under MGNREGS to attract rural voters ahead of elections

Funds for social welfare cut drastically in revised budget estimates

Ministers write protest letters to prime minister and finance minister, saying it would greatly impact ongoing schemes

RTI activists’ murders: Jairam Ramesh demands prompt action, compensation to families

Rural development minister’s letter to Nitish Kumar includes four suggestions for better implementation of social welfare schemes

Two Andhra villages get bamboo rights

The gram panchayat can earn up to Rs 1 crore a year, says Jairam Ramesh