India is incredible (after shining), with the fastest growth rate, an emerging demographic dividend and innovative brains for the globe. But the vast majority in rural India — employed in agriculture, small-scale and tiny industries, self-employed, and with no assets — does not find it so. This government, claiming inclusive growth for the grossly deprived and poor, has not taken actions to bring down prices of essential food items, unprecedented...

The government has written to all states to ensure better sanitation facilities, including separate toilets and free napkins, to check the increasing dropout rate among girls once they reach puberty. In a letter to all state secretaries, the rural development ministry has asked state governments to scale up the School Sanitation and Health Hygiene Education (SSHHE) programme under the ministry’s total sanitation campaign. Written by J.S. Mathur, joint secretary, department of drinking...

A new study on nutritional challenges has painted a grim picture of the current Indian scenario where over 50% of child deaths are caused due to malnutrition. Concerned over the high number of child deaths, the ministry of women and child development (WCD) plans to strengthen nutritional surveillance by mapping undernourished endemic zones and identifying "high risk and vulnerable districts". The report recommends developing a nutrition surveillance system to identify...

Over 11 elders including women and a couple of children hailing from Orissa's Koratpur District managed to save themselves from the clutches of serfdom in an obscure village of Karnataka. Buzz up!They reached Orissa on Wednesday, where a voluntary forum apprised the District Labour Officer and facilitated their return to their native village. The role of middlemen luring poor landless labourers came to light due to the efforts of Pragati, the non-governmental...

The Indian government’s efforts to provide drinking water to rural areas have been criticised by a parliamentary standing committee as being inadequate. A little over 84% households in rural areas are covered by rural water supply, while 16% have no access to safe drinking water. However, just 12% of rural families have individual household tap connections and only 16% of the population gets drinking water from public taps, according to the...