Citizens' Rights and Duties

Featured Articles
July 7, 2022 PMAY needs policy commitment to rehabilitate slums in small and medium cities of Gujarat
Need for legal framework for land rights in small and medium cities of Gujarat under PMAY (Image: Homes in the City)
December 6, 2019 A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river.
Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
November 21, 2019 A report by NIUA brings to light the chinks in Jaipur's sewage system and suggests some solutions.
Routine check done by the sewage treatment plant staff in Delawas, Jaipur. The plant is part of the ADB best practices projects list. (Image: Asian Development Bank, Flickr Commons)
November 18, 2019 Bangalore's water utility is understaffed, under financed and unable to service the city's water needs.
Image credit: Citizen Matters
November 15, 2019 On World Toilet Day, we bring to light the labour of India’s sewer workers - those who do the unclean work that a Clean India relies on.
Photo credit: Sharada Prasad
Ensuring food security in times of Covid-19
A study conducted in 47 districts indicates that over half of the surveyed households are eating less during lockdown. Posted on 15 May, 2020 02:37 PM

The study, ‘Covid-19 induced lockdown - How is hinterland coping’, based on a large survey undertaken by a consortium of civil society organisations undertook a rapid assessment of the impact of series of lockdowns on rural poor households.

The prolonged lockdown has increased the dependence of farmers on food supply through the public distribution system as well as the need to grow a good crop in kharif season. (Image: UNESCO)
Building resilience of communities during and beyond Covid-19
Interventions that increase dependencies and use of local resources to resolve challenges locally can help increase resilience of farmers. Posted on 14 May, 2020 01:12 PM

Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed multiple challenges in different geographies, especially for the vulnerable groups living in areas that already have existing issues of water and food security.

People were following social distancing in villages while collecting water (Image: INREM)
Need to build inclusive cities in the post-pandemic world
It’s time that public policy focuses on a radical re-envisioning of urban spaces and on improving social inclusion of migrants in urban settings. Posted on 12 May, 2020 08:36 PM

When migrants headed home after Covid-19 lockdown 1.0, Sarojini was suddenly caught off-guard. She decided against moving, after an initial urge to leave for her village in Samastipur, Bihar. Her two sons stay with her at Delhi, doing daily wage labour work, while she works as a domestic help.

Migrants on their way home during the countrywide lockdown (Image: Stranded Workers Action Network)
Coping with Covid-19: Options before small and marginal farmers of rainfed regions
There is a need to have basic institutional structures such as market, credit, insurance, research, extension service etc., in place in rainfed regions. Posted on 09 May, 2020 03:11 PM

The global crisis due to Covid-19 has hit India after coursing through western Europe. India’s response to curtail the spread of the disease was quite decisive.

Community economies - Reconstructing rural economy with ecological sustainability and ethics of equity
Collective management, participation and equity are the foundations on which community economies are sustained. Posted on 08 May, 2020 05:59 PM

The exodus of migrant workers from urban areas back to their villages in the wake of country wide lockdown has brought rural poverty into sharp focus. Reconstruction of rural economy therefore needs policy and planning attention.

Johads in Nanduwali nadi region (Image: Farhad Contractor, IWP Flickr)
Village institutions take a lead in Covid-19 response
Institutions are a key arsenal in rural India's pandemic fight. Posted on 07 May, 2020 09:23 PM

Covid-19 will have major implications in rural areas where the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), a non-profit organisation has been working towards conservation of natural resources through collective action of local communities. Experience indicates that the complete lockdown to contain the spread of the disease has resulted in loss of rural incomes.

In the light of disrupted food supply systems, especially for fresh produce, the village institution arranged for harvesting and sale of produce. (Image: FES)
Transforming lives in the Covid-19 context: MGNREGS and its potential
India can use its flagship public employment program (MGNREGS) to transform lives of its underprivileged population in the Covid-19 context, and live up to its promise of a welfare state. Posted on 05 May, 2020 04:11 PM

As India continues to unravel the actual scale of economic impacts in a world infested by the dangerous Covid-19 virus, lingering images of daily wage labourers and migrant workers attempting a near impossible walk home have been etched in public consciousness.

Women working on an NREGA site building a pond to assist in farming and water storage. Gopalpura, Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh (Image: UN Women/Gaganjit Singh, Flickr Commons)
Self sufficiency in the times of Covid-19
Utthan promotes self-sufficient food production areas with internal dependencies, as the pandemic causes disruptions from food to fork. Posted on 02 May, 2020 11:26 AM

Reshamben, Manguben and Naseemben, strong women leaders of Vanita Shakti Mahila Sangathan and Ekta Mahila Sangathan, have always argued that government ration shops under the public distribution system should purchase all essential foodgrains from the local area, to the extent possible.

A ‘people to people’ social solidarity enterprise in the times of Covid-19 (Image: Utthan)
Covid-19: The road back home
A rapid study highlights the plight of homebound migrant workers of Mirzapur and Prayagraj districts of Uttar Pradesh after Lockdown 1.0 Posted on 29 Apr, 2020 09:30 AM

Raj Kumar, 32, a daily wager employed at a factory in Delhi had barely a thousand rupees in his wallet when he readied to rush back to his village in Halia block of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. On a normal April afternoon, he took the highway that leads to his district hearing about the 21-day lockdown.

Millions of migrants rushed to return to their villages amid the lockdown (Image: Pixabay/balouriarajesh. Pixabay licence)
Covid-19: Oxfam India responding with relief in 14 states
Oxfam India along with its partners is striving to broaden its humanitarian relief response to fight coronavirus. Posted on 27 Apr, 2020 12:58 AM

In the last one week of starting its humanitarian relief response to fight coronavirus, Oxfam India along with its partners have provided dry ration to around 40,000 poor people, cooked meals served to nearly 40,000 migrant labourers, distributed 2660 safety kits to frontline workers and reached 4.5 million people through awareness initiatives in India.

Oxfam India is concerned about the impact Covid-19 could have on the most vulnerable communities (Image: Oxfam India)
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