RURAL DEVELOPMENT
An experiment in integrated development

By simultaneously carrying out multiple development schemes in a village, can its all-round development be made sustainable? Uttam Gram, in Haryana's Donkhera village, provides answers.

#Livestock #Water #Agriculture #HARYANA
ACCESS TO ENERGY
Rural electrification: An unfinished task

Power connections are now available across rural India. However, there is still a lot to be done before villagers reliably get uninterrupted electricity that can help them live and work better.

#Energy #Interviews #Environment
PATRIARCHY AND EMPOWERMENT
Unleashing Political Renaissance By Rejecting Patriarchy

Boregaon is a small village in Solapur district of Maharashtra where men have shunned the patriarchal mindset to support women’s political empowerment and gender equality, writes Suchismita Pai.

#Culture #Women's Representation #Women
OPINION
A rocky road for Gram Swaraj

The Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act Amendment Committee suggested reforms in the 1993 legislation to realise the ideal of decentralisation in letter and spirit. Nandana Reddy, a core member of the committee, holds the state accountable for the manner in which it has dealt with the report and proposed amendments.

#Laws #OP-ED #KARNATAKA
GRASSROOTS GOVERNANCE
GPOD: Bringing management principles to gram panchayats

As Gram Panchayats in Karnataka go to the polls this year, Madhavi Rajadhyaksha explores the untapped potential of these grassroots institutions and suggests ways in which their capabilities may be leveraged and capacity strengthened.

#Government #KARNATAKA
SAANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA
Why good governance may need more than adoption of villages

A new scheme launched by PM Narendra Modi envisages development through a model in which every MP chooses a village to develop, with people’s participation. Vikas Jha looks at the numbers and realities to explore the real needs of rural development at the panchayat level.

#E-Govt #Government
WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Empowering rural women: Moving beyond 50 percent

The imminent Panchayat elections in Karnataka will see 50 percent reservation for women at all tiers, but how can one ensure real authority for them? Proposed amendments to the Panchayat Raj Act may hold some answers.

#Gender and Leadership #Government #Women
LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN KERALA
Are too many ‘gramasabhas’ posing a challenge to governance?

As the Kerala government takes steps to re-inspire citizens to engage in grassroots level governance, P Mohammad Nizar draws attention to certain critical issues that must be addressed for the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state to be effectively revitalised.

#Government #OP-ED #KERALA
WOMEN SARPANCHS
Competing effectively in MP panchayats

Panchayats of Madhya Pradesh provide reservation of up to 50 per cent for women, but the participation of women in governance has gone beyond such new roles.

#Gender and Leadership #Government #MADHYA PRADESH
RURAL HEALTH
Health to the beat of drums

Simple interventions and sustained joint efforts by civil society groups and the local panchayat have resulted in significant improvements in communication and increase in health awareness in some of Rajasthan's most backward districts. Swapna Majumdar reports.

#Women's Health #Health #RAJASTHAN
RAJASTHAN'S WOMEN SARPANCHES
Discarding veils, embracing change
RAJASTHAN'S WOMEN SARPANCHES : Discarding veils, embracing change

Displaying extraordinary grit, courage and openness to change, women from some of the most feudal communities in Rajasthan's villages are changing the rules forever and leading development and local governance at the grassroots. Abha Sharma brings us their tales.

#Gender and Leadership #Women #RAJASTHAN
MIRACLE BY GOVERNANCE
A village with 60 millionaires!
MIRACLE BY GOVERNANCE : A village with 60 millionaires!
Once impoverished and drought-prone, Hiware Bazar in Maharashtra is a shining example of how a visionary leader can use good governance to make degraded areas resource-rich and transform the future of its people through empowerment and inspiration. Ramesh Menon reports.
#Water #Society #MAHARASHTRA
OPINION
Empowering communities the right way

Community engagement should be born out of respect for the participating community members and their capacities rather than as tokenism needed to fulfill a program requirement, writes R Balasubramaniam.

#R Balasubramaniam #OP-ED #Voices from the Grassroots
PUSHBACK TIME IN BIHAR
They hit back, "and it felt good"
PUSHBACK TIME IN BIHAR : They hit back, "and it felt good"
A public hearing on NREGA in a remote village in Bihar created a confrontation between a leader accused of corruption and the workers who exposed him. Rajesh Veeraraghavan was there and he recorded this story.
#Labour Issues #Human Rights #BIHAR
OPINION: NIPPING KARNATAKA'S PANCHAYATS
Once bitten, twice not shy
OPINION: NIPPING KARNATAKA'S PANCHAYATS : Once bitten, twice not shy
This is a bill that the Governor of Karnataka sent back to the state government in 2007 saying that it "evidently seems to undermine the Constitutional mechanism for rural development governance.." The same bill may be back in the state assembly soon, warns Nandana Reddy.
#Guest Opinions #Government #KARNATAKA