-Press Release from Swaraj Abhiyan Following the historic order of the Supreme Court of India in the Swaraj Abhiyan PIL on drought, various peoples movements have taken initiatives to monitor the ground situation of drought relief. Swaraj Abhiyan in association with Ekta Parishad, Jal Biradari and National Alliance of People’s Movements organised Jal-Hal yatra from Latur to Mahoba (21st May to 31st May). Similar yatras were organised in Telangana (2nd to...

-Livemint.com New Delhi: Back from a walk through drought-affected parts of the country, Yogendra Yadav, political scientist and co-founder of non-profit Swaraj Abhiyan, speaks on state compliance of Supreme Court orders, a booming private water market in Marathwada, and why farmer movements are weakest at a time when agrarian distress is at its peak. Edited excerpts from an interview: * You just came back from a trip to Bundelkhand and Marathwada. What...

Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...

-The Telegraph 15 such banks have been opened in Vijayapura district Vijayapura (Karnataka): In times of drought, cattle drive to a goshala (cattle shed) to feed them and driving them back may prove cumbersome. That explains the reason for the declining demand for goshalas in some of the drought-affected districts in the State. If the developments in the drought-affected districts are of any indication, the goshala concept seems to be becoming redundant...

-The Hindu The U.P. government will now provide farmers a grant of Rs. 1,500 per quintal in the Kharif season and Rs. 800 per quintal in the Rabi season. Lucknow: To help farmers recover from successive crop losses in drought-affected Bundelkhand, the Uttar Pradesh government is encouraging them to increase the cultivation of oilseeds, especially sesame (til), in the coming Kharif season. The State has increased subsidy on oilseeds. The government will now...