Why would a politician turn cheerleader for those trying to dig dirt against the men and women who form the final but vital link in his political supply chain - the sarpanches or village heads? Perhaps to show his commitment to the government program he owes his job to. This month, Bhilwara in Rajasthan saw something best described as 'social service' meets 'crack investigation': around 1500 people voluntarily gathered and...

In a new initiative, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has turned to non-governmental organisations to reach their technologies to farmers. The extension wing of the IARI on Wednesday interacted with representatives of 25 select NGOs working with farmers to draw a strategy for location specific technology transfer. As a special incentive, the IARI agreed to give free need-based, area-specific seeds...

The recession is a promising moment to expand NREGA with greater emphasis on building social capital in a big way.  Soon after assuming office, the first UPA government took an impressive step for the alleviation of rural poverty by launching the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It was, indeed, a wise move to insulate the programme from the vicissitudes of electoral politics by enacting the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act...

Unlike earthquakes, which can neither be predicted nor prevented, floods are both predictable and, to a large extent, preventable. The country has an elaborate, country-wide flood warning system in place, with two well-equipped central agencies — the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Central Water Commission — charged with this task. Despite this, the receding monsoon has caused devastating floods in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, killing hundreds of people...

Fishermen have abandoned lakes in the area after seawater raised alkaline levels in the wake of Alia Kultali, West Bengal: For the past 30 years, Atal Naskar has been making enough money from his three-acre fishing lake to feed a family of 10. But three months ago, this 50-year old fisherman fled his home in Kultali in West Bengal’s Sunderbans delta, hounded by moneylenders because he couldn’t repay a loan...