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