-Down to Earth Waste pickers recycle almost 20 per cent of India's wastes. Yet they are unrecognised, face discrimination and are not entitled to government schemes India produces about 5.31 million tonnes of waste each year and is facing an unprecedented solid waste management crisis. Coupled with an upward trend in industrialisation, rural migration, spending and an increasing propensity for capitalist consumption, the amount of waste generated in India will continue...

-The Hindu There is no way the country can reap its demographic dividend without fixing vocational education Salvaging the Indian demographic dividend must be a key part of India’s growth story. In 2016, the Government of India formed the Sharada Prasad Committee to rationalise the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which are employer bodies mostly promoted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and other...

-TheWire.in Examples from Jharkhand, Karnataka and other places make a strong case for kitchen gardens in more parts of the country. Pali Biruli lives in Gondamara, a tribal village in Saraikela district of Jharkhand. When we stepped into the courtyard of her home to have a glass of water, the beauty of the surrounding greenery surprised us. Within a small place. she and her family members had managed to grow papaya, mango,...

-The Times of India Nineteen-year-old Radha Dhanewale is one of the most eligible brides in Maharashtra’s Solapur. Families of prospective grooms arrive at the family’s tiny house every day. It’s not her education, horoscope or income that puts her at the top of the list — it’s a ‘bidi card’ she holds. “I have rolled bidis with my mother since my school days. A few years ago, I got a bidi card from...

-The Tribune 54 pilot schools in Delhi are changing perception towards schools run by the government Let’s confess. Most of us who complain about the government, on TV and in print, do not need to use government services such as schools and hospitals. The condition of roads impacts our perception of how a government is performing because our air-conditioned cars occasionally travel on those roads — good or bad. If we see...