The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
THIS is an important addition to a rather limited number of publications documenting case studies of the participatory processes of natural resources management. The process of bringing out this publication started with a workshop organised by the Ford Foundation (they also provided financial support for bringing out the book) in …
The sathins (village-level female social workers) have been in the forefront of the Women's Development Programme (WDP) in the rural areas of Rajasthan. However, their commitment and success have brought them little in terms of remuneration. Under the banner of the Sathin Karmchari Sangh, the sathins have been demanding fair …
The nationwide livestock development project in Nepal which is in its third phase, is slated to receive a boost as the Asian Development Bank recently agreed to provide a loan assisstance from its special funds to the Government. The overall aim of the project
On the decision to fight against corruption and its link with his work on rural development: I realised that on one hand we were relentlessly involved in developmental activities, and on the other, these activities were getting nullified upto a great extent by the menace of corruption. It was like …
the accelerating growth rate of the rural non-farm sector (nfs) and its rising significance has necessitated the examination of the actors constituting it. Ajit Kanitkar makes a bold attempt at understanding the emergence and sustenance of rural entrepreneurship. The importance of promoting non-agricultural economic activities, prompted the government to establish …
Gandhiji's environmentalism was based on the following ethical principles: non-violence, truth and persevering the truth; shunning the use of materials obtained by illegitimate means and so on. Gandhiji said that we can use the bounties of nature but not with an element of greed.
it is unbelievable but absolutely true that almost all the developmental activities for villages in the Himalaya are designed by planners who know virtually nothing about the village psych
agriculture is undoubtedly linked to politics. The division of land and other resources, access to basic rights, prices of inputs and produce, wages, the acceptance of ecological constraints, are all factors that in the end are dependent on political decision-making. This is the reason why the key to necessary agrarian …
ON MAY 15, after 40 days of the Majdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan's (MKSS) dharna (sit-in protest) for people's right to information (Down To Earth, Vol 4, No 24), the Rajasthan government at last bowed to mounting public pressure and constituted a five-member committee headed by the additional chief secretary Arun …
THE, right to inspect bills, vouchers and muster-rolls of village development works becoming a major election issue? Well, that precisely is the attempt of the Maidoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) as it launched its indefinite dharna (sitin) with hundreds of participants from five Rajasthan telisils of Raipur, Jawaja, Blum, Devgarh …
The International Institute for Sustainable Future in Mumbai, and the Gaia Foundation of Denmark have selected two villages in Thane district of Maharashtra. as part of a global initiative to set up eco-villages. The aim of the programme is to help villagers maintain their simple lifestyle, keeping away from the …
BHOLA Ram Kumawat still makes the best wooden toys inUdaipur; but he may well be the craft"s last sentinel.Kumawatbelongs to a family of renowned toymakersbut his son drawshandcarts for a living and his wife is a domestic help. Says the70old manThere are no forests left now - no khirni (Wrightia …
The Khadi and Village Industry Commission (KVIC) was setup in 1957 to cover 10 village industries, besides khadi (cottage or handloom weaving). In 1987, its scope was expanded to 96 industries, as varied as jaggery-making and electronics. To help develop a village industry, the KVICoffers artisans an aid package including …
The Vaijnath Leather Complex (VlC) established in 1962 in Bardoli, Gujarat, was hailed as a model of governmeritj intervention to revive the village leather industry. "Its founding fathers had a vision of producing gold from garbage by integrated development of the rural leather industry," say Usufbhai Patel, executive manager of …
Two Delhi-based NGOs, Development Alternatives (DA) and the Centre for Technology Development (CTD), provide examples of fairly successful, contrasting modes of disseminating technology to artisans. DA believes that technology interventions succeed only if they are commercialised. "If a technology does not profit everyone, it is useless," says Ashok Khosla, president. …
Why should we be ashamed of what we are doing?" demands Sudama Devi. We are earning a living." In a state where women are boUght and sold like cattle, the case of this wizened woman from ChoUhka village in Bihar's Rohtas district stands out. Sudama and her companion Sushela, who …
Tracing their origins to Lord Vishwakarma, the mythological source of all creative intellect, India's artisans evolved into a distinct social group with the emergence of settled agriculture and habitation. Excavations reveal that they were among the most productive mem- bers of the prolific Indus Valley culture. After the collapse of …
FOR an urban Indian centre of the mid '90s, the chief interest of the film The Village Republic lies in the excitement at the variety of experiments by villagers to control their resources. The film focuses on collective rural initiatives to stem biomass degradation in places like the Siwalik, Deccan …
