Down to Earth Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla city has been battered following three days of heavy rainfall — there have been three major landslides in the last four days and the bodies of over 22 people have been recovered so far. Over two dozen people are Missing and suspected to be buried under the debris. According to experts, the city has long crossed its carrying capacity, which is leading to regular landslides...

Peoples' Archive of Rural India Gaddamidi Rajeshwari became a landowner in 2018. “I was excited! I would be a woman who owns land.” Or at least she thought so, looking proudly at the official title deed in her hand. Five years later she is still waiting for the state to recognise her ownership of 1.28 acres of land in Barwad, 30 kilometres from her home in Yenkepalle village for which she...

IndiaSpend There are at least five estimates of the number of poor people in India, which put the number of poor in India between 34 million--equivalent to the population of Kerala--to 373 million--more than four times the population of West Bengal. This puts the number of the poor between 2.5% of the population to 29.5%, based on different estimates between 2014 and 2022. Economists have arrived at these estimates through various means, including projections...

-IndiaSpend.com Several important datasets that help in formulating government policies have not been released for over two years Mumbai: Of 20 government datasets that IndiaSpend analysed, the collection of data or its public release has been delayed for 12 datasets. Crucial data such as from the census, household expenditure and poverty estimates, which influence other data sets and policymaking, are over two years old. Political manipulation in data releases and a weakened data...

Jharkhand's government schools have a massive teacher shortage, a survey by Gyan Vigyan Samiti Jharkhand has found. The survey was conducted in 138 primary and upper primary schools between September and October 2022 to assess their condition after the Covid-19 pandemic. Jharkhand's school system was shut for two years, among the longest in the world. Teachers told the surveyors they felt that most students had forgotten how to read and...