-Economic and Political Weekly   The runaway growth in states of subsidised solar pumps, which provide quality energy at near-zero marginal cost, can pose a bigger threat of groundwater over-exploitation than free power has done so far. The best way to meet this threat is by paying farmers to "grow" solar power as a remunerative cash crop. Doing so can reduce pressure on aquifers, cut the subsidy burden on electricity companies, reduce...

-IPS News SUNDARBANS: November is the cruelest month for landless families in the Indian Sundarbans, the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world lying primarily in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. There is little agricultural wage-work to be found, and the village moneylender's loan remains unpaid, its interest mounting. The paddy harvest is a month away, pushing rice prices to an annual high. For those like Namita Bera,...

-Outlook AP Initiates Economic Empowerment of Women Through Sand Mining Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has launched an initiative of entrusting sand mining to women self-help groups, which is essentially expected to curb the thriving sand mafia. The move will ensure economic empowerment of women as part of the government's 'Pedarikam pai gelupu' (victory over poverty) drive and make sand available at a reasonable price to customers. The income generated from sand mining and...

-The Hindu ‘The government has taken steps to destroy MGNREGA, an act that gives purchasing power to the rural poor, following prejudicial contentions of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders' It's no secret that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. MGNREGA is perhaps the only law in the world which guarantees 100 days of wage employment a year to one member of a rural...

-The Hindu Business Line They drop out on account of cultural taboos and lack of follow up efforts by implementing agencies Despite opportunities and systematic community-driven handholding support from the Government and non-government bodies, women might still choose not to participate in the economic development process. Under the purview of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, the world's largest poverty alleviation initiative, the Government and NGOs are targeting women from the poorest households...