Still in troubled waters
At the time of destructive floods, the distress of affected people attracts attention but, unfortunately, as soon as the flood waters recede they are forgotten.
Grassroots
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Science of holistic learning
In the long shadow of the now defunct Kolar Gold Fields, a small revolution is slowly sweeping the desolate countryside: a revolution to take world class science education to village schools and open
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Farmers in Nagaland take up jatropha cultivation
For long, Hevelie Shohe and her family have been growing upland paddy on their traditional 'jhum' land on the hills of this Sema Naga village of Nagaland, but have had little to save. This autumn, the 45 year old farmer is busy taking care of the jatropha saplings she planted on one hectare of 'jhum' land. She hopes to double her income when they mature and their seeds sold for extraction of green fuel. Dec 2007
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Common salt, uncommon angst
In the post-tsunami period, in the midst of hectic relief work, the Social Activities for Rural Development Society (SARDS), an NGO working in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, made a startling discovery. While every government and voluntary agency in the area was bending over backwards to offer relief to the fishing community, the 35,000 odd salt making community in the district was left totally out of the ambit of all relief and aid work. Dec 2007
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Two chappatis per day
Starvation deaths are headline grabbers. But when an entire community lives on the brink of starvation through out the year it rarely merits a mention. One such group, the Musahars in Uttar Pradesh light their chula once a day, in the evening, and live on one meal. Dec 2007
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Coastal town on road to become zero-waste zone
Koyilandi municipality, 30 km from Kozhikode, Kerala is grabbing attention as a model of excellence in civic services in a state bogged down by inefficiency, lack of direction and corruption. Koyilandi was the first town in Kerala to take the plastic-free campaign seriously with a padayatra by Municipality Chairman K Dasan himself three years ago.
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The young and committed
The Tarun Bharat Sangh was formed in Jaipur in 1975. The members came to Bheekampura in 1985 and surveyed the region for two years. It was then that they decided to undertake watershed development in
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Snatching someone s baby
Villagers in Rajasthan have revived a dried up river in the region with help of a NGO. Now, their fight is with the state government, which has denied them rights over it
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Earnest endeavours
West Bengal s women panchayat members have become the torchbearers of rural development programmes in the state
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In search of an alternative
Drastic reduction in the cycle of shifting cultivation and soil erosion are forcing the Karbi tribe of Assam to explore sustainable agricultural practices