Panchayati Raj Institutions

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April 6, 2021 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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)
Facing up to the water crisis
Conservation measures such as rainwater harvesting and recharging of groundwater need to be generally well established in both rural and urban areas. Posted on 24 Apr, 2020 11:58 AM

The conventional freshwater sources available in India are being currently overexploited, leading to widespread environmental degradation and depletion of freshwater resources especially groundwater. To sustain the needs of an increasing population and ecology, our consumption of water far exceeds the rate at which we are recharging water sources.

Water conservation measures invariably have a positive effect on water quality and the environment (Image: Joel Bassuk / Oxfam; Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Vulnerable, in the time of Covid-19!
Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM), Pune has designed a Covid-19 response programme for vulnerable communities. Posted on 21 Apr, 2020 09:30 AM

The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc worldwide and India continues to be in the line of fire. While cases continue to rise, India is also experiencing a crisis of another kind, that of the lockdown affecting the livelihoods of a large number of workers from the informal sector.

Meeting the basic needs of vulnerable communities during Covid-19 (Image Source: SOPPECOM)
Springing back to life
Jal Jeevan Mission can go a long way to promote springshed management and ensure source sustainability of spring based piped water supply. Posted on 20 Apr, 2020 11:45 PM

Springs are the key source of water for rural households in Uttarakhand, yet they have seen an overall neglect over the decades with discharge from many springs declining bit by bit. The depletion of aquifers, changes in land use and ecological degradation have led to several initiatives to address springshed management in the state. We speak to Dr.

Image: Flickr Commons
Covid-19: Implications for watershed management
Watershed work needs to be stepped up to ensure that the lockdown does not impact the livelihoods of the rural poor. Posted on 16 Apr, 2020 04:47 PM

Over the last four decades, watershed management has emerged as one of the most decentralised, integrated, persisting, innovative and effective programs to enhance natural resources such as water, soil and the vegetative cover as well as to provide means of livelihood to marginalised sections in rural areas.

COVID-19 has adversely affected this year's watershed management work (Image: ILO South Asia-Pacific; Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
From policy to practice: Can National Water Policy 2020 bridge the gap?
The new policy needs to build context specificity and have enabling mechanisms for equitable resource allocation. Posted on 11 Apr, 2020 07:46 PM

The way water as a resource has been viewed in the policies of India has evolved significantly over the years. Reduction in per capita availability over the years (5177 to 1463 cubic metres between 1950-2015) has forced every new policy to change the way it has approached its management. It was considered an economic commodity in the second National Water Policy (NWP) drafted in 2002.

Women extracting water from the riverbed, Gaya (Image: ICIMOD/ Prasanta Biswas; Flickr Commons)
Combating Covid-19 collectively: DHAN’s way
DHAN Foundation has been responding to the crisis, reaching out to the most vulnerable communities. Posted on 10 Apr, 2020 12:21 PM

As the Covid-19 pandemic reaches new corners of the country, the NGO community in India has been preparing itself to respond to the unexpected needs that the crisis is producing. DHAN Foundation, a professional development organisation working in several states of India with the communities has begun to develop a strategy.

Creating awareness about the pandemic as well as about the measures essential to be safe (Image: DHAN Foundation)
Joining the battle against Covid-19
As corona virus 'travels' to rural areas, PRADAN ramps up its response by training tribals and marginalised women. Posted on 02 Apr, 2020 10:48 AM

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared coronavirus disease a pandemic. Originating from Wuhan in China, it has traversed almost the entire globe, and claimed more than 41,000 lives, while over 8 lakh people are infected already. That’s largely the urban population.

Keeping the communities abreast of best practices for a safe and healthy living (Image: PRADAN)
Clean drinking water: Still a pipe dream for Maharashtra?
While water supply coverage has improved over the years in Maharashtra, why does safe and continuous water supply still remain a distant dream for the state? Posted on 30 Mar, 2020 04:34 PM

Latur in Maharashtra has been facing acute drinking water scarcity over the last month and has been in news again, and that too, inspite of having piped water connections and a good monsoon this year!

Har nal me jal, a pipe dream? (Image Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
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