Panchayati Raj Institutions

Featured Articles
April 6, 2021
Drinking water access to all in Bihar: Reach, benefits and challenges
Significantly reduced the daily drudgery of women in rural areas
The water requirement for the scheme is being fulfilled through borings, submersible pumps, and distribution pipelines implemented by the Department of Panchayati Raj, Government of Bihar. (Image: Sehgal Foundation)
December 7, 2020
Not in the interest of women farmers!
The new farm related bills will spell doom for women workers who form the bulk of small and marginal sections of Indian agriculture, warns Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM).
Farm women, overworked and underpaid (Image Source: India Water Portal)
October 24, 2019
How farm ponds in Madhya Pradesh are building agricultural resilience
An intern with Watershed Organisation Trust narrates his field experience from the villages of Madhya Pradesh, where farmers are using farm ponds to conserve water.
A farm pond constructed by Sheshrao Dhurve in Karaghat Kamti village of Madhya Pradesh
October 22, 2019
Conflicts over land on the rise in India
A forum discusses the need to stop illegal land transfers and land alienation of the poor.
The maldharis from kutch on their own road trip (Image: Malay Maniar, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
October 21, 2019
In conversation with K. J. Joy of SOPPECOM
In this interview, Joy talks about his work as an activist working in rural Maharashtra, and how he came to work on water conflicts in India.
KJ Joy speaks at a felicitation for the late Professor Ramaswamy Iyer.
September 30, 2019
The Water Future Conference in Bangalore: Towards a Sustainable Water Future
The recently concluded 4 day conference in Bangalore looked at the current state of global water resource challenges & future pathways to achieve the SDGs, while ensuring equity in access to all.
Charles Vorosmarty, Chair, COMPASS Initiative, Water Future at the opening plenary on advanced water system assessments to address water security challenges of the 21st century.
Accelerating agricultural development for inclusive growth: Strategic issues and policy options
Like most other developing countries, India has predominantly been an agrarian economy, with agriculture sector contributing the largest share to gross domestic product (GDP) and employment. The introduction of high yielding varieties (HYV) technology in mid- 1960s yielded spectacular results in foodgrains production. However, growth in productivity is slowing down in many states while the scope for expanding the area under cultivation as well as irrigation is limited. Therefore, the real challenges for agricultural sector in future would be to feed the ever growing population and to protect long-term sustainable productive capacity of natural resources like land and water.
Vijay Paul Sharma
Posted on 27 Apr, 2012 01:30 PM

Article Courtesy :  Vikalpa, Volume 37, No 1, January-March 2012

Author: Vijay Paul Sharma
Microfinance institutions get away with farmer suicide abetment charges: Police close a third of the cases in Andhra Pradesh
In 2010, Andhra Pradesh witnessed a series of suicides. These were not cases of farmers' suicides—a regular occurrence in the state which continues to be in the grip of an agrarian crisis. The victims in these cases happened to be the poorest of the poor; most of them illiterate dalits and adivasis. The first information reports (FIRs) of the police reveal that most of the suicides were due to coercive loan recovery tactics adopted by the mighty microfinance institutions (MFIs), that had given these people a few thousands of rupees as loans. Ironically, 2010 happened to be a year in which the micro finance industry registered a spectacular growth. This article by M Suchitra in Down to Earth deals with the issue.
M Suchitra
Posted on 27 Apr, 2012 12:43 PM

Article Courtesy : Down to Earth

Author : M Suchitra
Appointment of young professionals as Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellows - Some questions
There has been quite a bit of news and excitement about the Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellows recently appointed by selecting young professionals from top professionals institutions like IITs, IIMs, TISS and others. It is a welcome idea that large numbers of professionals have been attracted to be such Fellows. It is to be seen if they will deliver what is expected out of them, especially while working in the districts affected by left wing extremism. I wish them all success but the history of such ideas and experiments have failed globally and we should have deeper analysis of them, says Achyut Das of Agragamee, Orissa.
Achyut Das
Posted on 23 Apr, 2012 11:19 AM

The critics of the PMRDFS have already started asking questions as follows:
Critical analysis of the overarching issues in Indian agriculture - State of Indian agriculture report (2011-2012)
The report on the State of Indian Agriculture placed by the Government to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, calls for wide-ranging reforms in agriculture sector to enable it to meet the growing demands and meet the challenges posed by various human and environmental factors. The first issue of State of Indian Agriculture series had been published by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) in 2009.
National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
Posted on 06 Apr, 2012 06:57 PM

maize with redgram
Restructuring in 2012 of District Rural Development Agency set up by Ministry of Rural Development
The Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) had in 2011 constituted a Committee on Restructuring of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) under the chairmanship of Shri V Ramchandran, Chairmen-Emeritus, Centre for Management Development, Thiruvananthapuram with the objective of strengthening and professionalizing DRDA to meet the challenge of rural development in the present context. The committee has now submitted its report which has been put in the MoRD website for comments before a final view is taken.
IWP
Posted on 05 Apr, 2012 09:25 PM

The MoRD constituted the present Committee with a mandate to study the structure of the DRDA and suggest measures to strengthen their professional character so that they could be useful to the Zila Parishads and the district administration in planning for removal of rural poverty.
People of Nuapada district in Odisha build a stop dam themselves - Roundup of audio updates from CGNet Swara (Sep 2011 to Feb 2012)
Article courtesy: CGNet Swara
CGNet Swara
Posted on 03 Apr, 2012 02:57 PM

People get together to build a stop dam themselves

The people of Khariar road town in Odisha have long requested a check dam across the river Jonk. Khuturam Sunani describes how they have now begun constructing it through shramadaan.

Impact report of watershed development programme in Ayyannapalem village of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh
We are very glad to bring to the notice of the Watershed Development Fund (WDF) that the Ayyannapalem watershed Capacity Building Phase (CBP) activities are successfully implemented and it has reached the stage of Feasibility Study Report (FSR) proposal. According to the field conditions, the Ayyannapalem watershed is highly suitable for watershed implementation and there are deep gullies and high level hillocks that exist in the villages. Farmers' co-operation is also very encouraging and we could complete the watershed activities within the specified period.
Kotikala Chandrasheakar
Posted on 19 Mar, 2012 11:59 AM

Author : Kotikala Chandrasheakar

Name of the watershed: Ayyannapalem
Name of the Mandal: Bollapalli
District: Guntur
Improving farmers’ access to agricultural insurance in India - A World Bank working paper
This working paper by the World Bank provides a detailed overview of The National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the entire policy process involved in the change over from the NAIS to the modified NAIS and beyond. India’s crop insurance program is the world’s largest with 25 million farmers insured. However, issues in design, particularly related to delays in claims settlement, have led to 95 million farmer households not being covered, despite significant government subsidy.
Niraj Verma
Olivier Mahul
Posted on 12 Mar, 2012 11:08 PM

To address this and other problems, the Government of India is piloting a modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme, a market-based scheme with involvement from the private sector.
Rural water access: Governance and contestation in a semi-arid watershed in Udaipur, Rajasthan: A paper in EPW
Recent policy has encouraged a shift towards community management of water infrastructure through the creation of decentralised institutions.This also implies a shift from large to small structures and institutions. This however presumes the existence of a homogeneous 'community', and does not necessarily acknowledge the effect of various separate groups within such a community on these institutions. This paper published in Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) examines the impacts of this shift towards decentralised irrigation management on different groups residing in six villages in Rajasthan.
Lalitha Kamath
NC Narayanan
Posted on 21 Feb, 2012 05:19 PM

Study area

This study is carried out in micro-watershed No.19, which comprises six villages in Jhadol tehsil of Udaipur district in Rajasthan. A minor irrigation project completed in 1980 serves these six villages

Rainfall, storage levels in reservoir and groundwater use
Understanding governance in WASH sector in Andhra Pradesh - A study by WASSAN
The paper examines the issue of water governance- its key elements, applicability, and influence on service levels.
MV Rama Chandrudu
R subramanyam Naidu
Safa Fanaian
Posted on 18 Feb, 2012 03:38 PM

Problems in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector have their roots in socio-political issues rather than in technology. This paper presents the report of a survey in 107 villages in rural Andhra Pradesh to illustrate the influence of governance systems.

contrasting pictures of a well maintained hand pump and one that is standing in a pool of dirty water

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