In India's western state of Maharashtra, a project supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency is yielding better incomes for farmers and has lured the migrants back to their native villages. PROJECT: Rural Development FOR POVERTY REDUCTION PERIOD: 2008-2011 Vishwanath Gangaram Malpote, 28, is in the midst of a robust harvest. As he weeds his rice field, one cannot but help admire his meticulous effort to pluck off the small undergrowth from the standing...

-The Hindu Deevige, a sponsored programme on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), produced by All India Radio (AIR) Hassan has received an overwhelming response from the public. The programme, broadcast by all AIR stations in the State simultaneously at 7.45 p.m. every day, has completed 69 episodes so far. Eleven more episodes are scheduled to be aired before March 20. At the end of each episode, AIR invites...

-WFS   Pamela Philipose meets three tribal women who changed the course of their lives through sheer grit and determination, despite their circumstances Kaushal Markam’s experiences are not unusual. When she managed to get a job card entitling her to work on one of the government-run worksites under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), she was delighted.  Money was always in short supply, and this 35-year-old Baiga tribal woman of Dongaria...

Funding agency for rural NGOs may be on its last legs IT IS a government agency that was set up specially to fund non-profits working on Rural Development. But of late the Council for People’s Action and Advancement of Rural Technology (CAPART) has been plagued by allegations of corruption and inefficiency. After a few failed attempts to reform CAPART, the government has now decided to overhaul the agency which has close...

-The Economic Times After emerging as one of the pioneers in the investment regions of petroleum products and information technology, Andhra Pradesh is now weighing the benefits of promoting an Agribusiness Investment Region (ABIR) involving major agri clusters in three of its geopolitical regions.  The proposed ABIR project in Andhra Pradesh, to be taken up in a public private partnership (PPP) model, involves setting up an integrated infrastructure for rural business and...