-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The central government will launch six pilot projects for clean drinking water supply in villages under 'Swajal Project; one each in Uttarakhand, UP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The project will involve locals in civil work and maintenance of the system. Piloted as a "by the people, for the people, of the people" project, the drinking water and sanitation ministry will pay 90% of...

Scarcity teaches a village in Orissa how to manage its water supply Thirty-something Gulab Kunju remembers the days when she would drink milk to quench thirst because drinking water was scarce. Her village Dhaurada had three hand pumps to meet the needs of more than 120 families settled in four hamlets. Each day she would make several trips to the nearest hand pump on the outskirts of her hamlet. During summers the...

**page** [inside]KEY TRENDS of the Union Budget 2023-24[/inside] Budget 2023-24 is the last full budget before the general election scheduled for 2024. An analysis of the budget allocations suggests that the union government has squeezed expenditure, particularly on food subsidy and the NREGA budget, while boosting Capital expenditure and giving the middle class tax benefits. Social sector activists working on Right to Food, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) came out with...

KEY TRENDS   • According to NSS 76th Round, the major source of drinking water of the household was hand pump in the rural areas and piped water into dwelling in the urban areas. About 42.9 percent of the households in the rural areas used hand pump as the principal source of drinking water and about 40.9 percent of the households in the urban areas used piped water into dwelling as the principal...