Water, Water everywhere, and so many committees to deal with it. On top of so many ministries and committees that think about Water, the government has decided that India needs a Water Mission. Apart from the Water resources ministry, the ministries of rural development, agriculture and environment and forests are actively involved in Water conservation work. Besides, the river basin authorities are also supposed to look after Water management in...

The word ‘Mitanin’ was derived from a Chhattisgarhi custom, where a ‘mitanin’ is a girl bonded ceremoniously in her childhood to another girl as a lifelong friend IT IS quite common for tractors in rural India to haul all kinds of unusual cargo. Even then, a late night emergency shuttle, from a small home in Narayanpaal village in the backward Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, to ferry a pregnant woman in...

The revised estimates of national income by the Central Statistical Organisation for 2009-10 present a generally positive picture of the economy. During the year, the economy grew by 7.4 per cent, marginally higher than the 7.2 per cent projected in February's advance estimates. A better-than-expected 8.6 per cent growth during the fourth quarter is the main reason. Industry has been a star performer. The strong performance of the crucial segments...

Clause 4.e.(1) of The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, [PESA] says: “Every Gram Sabha shall approve the plans, programmes and projects for social and economic development before such plans, programmes and projects are taken up for implementation.” Tribal villages are forcibly entered and village people are humiliated : The sad fact is the CRPF forces have barged into several villages in the Districts of Latehar,...

This is a story of a bunch of gritty women in a small Andhra village who used their traditional resources and knowledge to fight poverty and create a source of livelihoods for others. A group of 34 women, most of them illiterate, at village Pyalayaram, which falls in Deccan region of Zaheerabad mandal in the state of Andhra Pradesh.decided to set up a community grain bank with a little help...