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Water of life: The rebirth of Surodi
A firsthand account of how the villagers of Surodi got together to construct and repair bunds in their village, transforming it from a poor, drought-prone village into a thriving model of self-sufficiency More... Hazardous work, Bhopal styleResidents living near the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal complain of extreme distress caused by the pesticide dust generated by the shoddy handling of pesticides within the factory as the Madhya Pradesh government attempts a clumsy and hazardous clean-up operation More... 'The poor are the worst victims of statist control'The laws governing livelihoods in India make it impossible to pursue a legitimate occupation without being terrorised or fleeced by some government agency or the other. Liberalisation has failed to create an enabling environment for 90% of the country's workforce that operate in the informal sector, says Madhu Kishwar More... Contract farming in the PunjabThe Punjab government is all fired up about its new contract farming programme to promote crop diversification. But has it worked? More... More rice for less waterCultivating a single kilo of rice requires 5,000 litres of water. India has over 24 million hectares under irrigated paddy, so imagine all the water required. If the system of rice intensification (SRI) were to be applied on all this land we would be able to cut water requirement for paddy by 50% and simultaneously boost rice production by 50%. So why is the government not pushing SRI? More... Anicut brings Mota Mayanga village to lifeWith the simple construction of an anicut, the Western India Rainfed Farming Project (WIRFP) has helped transform the lives of tribal villagers living in the seriously degraded and drought-prone village of Mota Mayanga in Partapgarh, Rajasthan More... Measuring happinessBesides the usual household and demographic information, Bhutan's census machinery is asking every citizen whether she's happy. A country that is not afraid to ask this question is definitely going in the right direction More... Bhutan is no ShangrilaHow meaningful is Gross National Happiness in a country totally dependent on aid? How meaningful is Bhutan's rejection of materialism when materialism is simply not an option for a predominantly rural population, with no access to markets? How significant is Bhutan's claim that it has more monks than soldiers when India provides most of Bhutan's defence? More... Grandparents in Punjab bring up children of a lost generationAs hundreds of indebted farmers in Punjab commit suicide, in village after village old grandparents -- once prosperous, now impoverished - are left struggling to take care of their grandchildren More... Is it diversify or perish for farmers in the Punjab?In the face of Punjab's acute water crisis, the government wants farmers to switch from water-intensive wheat and paddy to oilseeds and pulses. But the state is divided on the crop-diversification debate, with farmers demanding a minimum support price for the switchover More... Champions of the environmentThe environment and its management is a major part of Bhutan's development plan, and one of the four pillars of Gross National Happiness. Bhutanese law requires 60% of the country to remain forested for all time. Already, over a quarter of Bhutan's land has been set aside in the form of protected areas More... Democratic BuddhismA well-loved monarch who is constantly trying to push power away from himself, governance that is simultaneously secular and Buddhist"¦Manoj Nadkarni finds his cynicism about Gross National Happiness rapidly eroding as he continues his travels through Bhutan More... Misgivings on givingIn tsunami-affected regions of Tamil Nadu, where CSOs are hard at work on rehabilitation, there is evidence that some of the lessons of Gujarat and Orissa have not been learnt -- communities are not being sufficiently involved in the rehabilitation effort, and inappropriate shelters stand empty of inhabitants More... Tsunami dredges up social tensionsThe tsunami has also dredged up caste, class and livelihood tussles that must be dealt with in the process of rehabilitation. In Bommiyarpalyam village in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, it's the fisherfolk versus the upper-caste Vanniyars versus the dalits More... The Irulas find a homelandWhile the world focuses on the fishing communities that bore the brunt of the tsunami, spare a thought for the Irulas of Tamil Nadu. These tribals, once displaced from their forest homes and traditional occupations, have now lost their pathetic settlements and precarious livelihoods in coastal villages. In Nemeli, some Irulas have finally found a home More... |
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