Local procurement for anganwadis can revive rural economy in a big way The dominating noise of the grinder and the mixer speaks loudly of a new skill that the women of Binka village have mastered. The house, centre of all activity, is the busiest in this sleepy village. The women are making a nutrition mix for 270 anganwadi centres in two blocks of Odisha’s Subarnapur district. Famed for their weaving skills, the...
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Aruna Roy, Indian social activist interviewed by Kanak Mani Dixit
Kanak Dixit: We have with us Aruna Roy, from Devdungri village in Rajasthan, who has, among other things, been able to take the Right to Information (RTI) from janasunuwais, or public hearings at the village level, all the way to national legislation that encompasses all of India. It is a movement that is truly global in scale. Aruna, a question that has been troubling me quite a bit in the context...
More »Growing water shortages carry economic risks that are as damaging as political corruption by Brahma Chellaney
Water is the most critical of all natural resources on which modern economies depend. Water scarcity and rapid economic advance cannot go hand-in-hand. Yet, with its per-capita water availability falling to 1,582 cu m per year, India has become water-stressed. In 1960, India signed a treaty indefinitely setting aside 80% of the Indus-system waters for downstream Pakistan - the most generous water-sharing pact thus far in modern world history. Its 1996...
More »Centre's initiative to provide livelihood for tribals in naxal-affected areas by K Balchand
Foundation to be set up with a corpus fund of Rs. 500 crore The Centre is in the process of setting up a foundation with a corpus fund of Rs. 500 crore to provide a livelihood to tribals in about 900 blocks, spread over 170 districts of nine States, to strengthen its anti-naxalite campaign. The latest proposal, evolved jointly by the Ministry of Rural Development and the Planning Commission, envisages a concerted...
More »Small loans add up to lethal debts by Erika Kinetz
-AP The microfinance industry pursued a path of rapid business growth in recent years; two investigations now link it to debtor suicides First they were stripped of their utensils, furniture, mobile phones, television sets, ration cards and heirloom gold jewellery. Then, some of them drank pesticide. One woman threw herself into a pond. Another jumped into a well with her children. Sometimes, the debt collectors watched nearby. More than 200 poor, debt-ridden residents of...
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