Government Programmes

Featured Articles
October 22, 2022
Employment guarantee during Covid-19
Role of MGNREGA in the year after the 2020 lockdown: Survey findings from Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh
MGNREGA provided income support or security to vulnerable households during the pandemic (Image: UN Women)
July 7, 2022
Slum land rights: A necessity for success of PMAY
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)
May 25, 2022
One water, one data
Enabling a culture of data sharing between programs and reuse of data
Participatory programs such as JJM require a large amount of village-level information on water (Image: Arpit Deomurar, FES)
March 15, 2022
Mumbai sets a mitigation goal to achieve net-zero by 2050
World Resources Institute (WRI) India and the C40 Cities network develop Mumbai’s first-ever Climate Action Plan
The MCAP adopts a scientific evidence-based planning approach to mobilize resources and move from planning to implementation of strategic projects (Image: Deepak Gupta, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 3.0)
February 28, 2022
Budgetary trends for drinking water in Gujarat: Special focus on tribal communities
Gujarat aims to achieve 100 per cent saturation in tap water connection for every household by October 2022 under the Jal Jeevan Mission
The SCALE project implemented in villages in semi arid regions enabled ultra-poor groups in project villages improve their access to drinking water (Image: European Union, Flickr Commons)
February 10, 2022
Budgetary provisions for drinking water supply continue to get priority
Budget for sanitation sees a decline
Jal Jeevan Mission has picked up pace after two years (Image: Anita Martinz, Wikimedia Commons, CC-A-2.0 Generic)
Covid-19: Managing the disaster in rural India
There is a need to rethink our disaster management policies and the top-down approach that it follows.
Priyanka Tajane
Posted on 17 May, 2020 09:45 PM

With an attempt to contain the spread of deadly Covid-19, Indian government had announced a complete nation-wide lockdown from March 25 onwards. For the first time, the provisions of the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, were invoked since the law came into being after the 2004 tsunami.
Drought in Marathwada (Image: Flickr Commons)
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.
Amita Bhaduri
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.
Manisha Shah
Kiran Kumar Sen
Gurudutt Ramachandra
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)
Water levels in major reservoirs maximum in last 13 years: CWC
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 13 May, 2020 02:39 PM

Water storage level 76 percent more than last year: CWC
Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Jharkhand launches scheme to revive rural economy
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 13 May, 2020 02:32 PM

Jharkhand government launches three schemes to revive rural economy under the MGNREGA
Jharkhand launches scheme to revive rural economy. Image for representation only. (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
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.
Amita Bhaduri
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.
Biswanath Sinha
Kuntal Mukherjee
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.
Ranjita Mohanty
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.
Kiran Singh
Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
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.
Karthik Seshan
Ayan Biswas
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)
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