Society, Culture, Religion and History

Featured Articles
January 13, 2022 The water structures constructed during the Gond period continue to survive the test of time and provide evidence of the water wisdom of our ancestors.
Kundeshwar lake, Kundam in Jabalpur (Image Source: K G Vyas)
January 2, 2021 Lack of community ownership and local governance are spelling doom for the once royal and resilient traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan.
Toorji Ka Jhalara, Jodhpur (Image Source: Rituja Mitra)
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)
December 11, 2019 Dry toilets have long been hailed as a sustainable solution to the sanitation and waste management crisis facing India today, but have been overshadowed by more modern toilet designs.
A traditional dry toilet. Image: India Science Wire
December 4, 2019 To adapt well & build resilience, climate change strategies need to factor in efforts towards water security, writes Vanita Suneja, Regional Advocacy Manager (South Asia), WaterAid.
Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
December 2, 2019 Water stewardship is an approach predicated on the concept that water is a shared resource and so water risks are also shared risks that everyone in a catchment will face
Picture credit: Romit Sen
Supporting social businesses from rural India
IIMB’s NSRCEL and Yunus Social Business Fund join hands for social business financing Posted on 11 Nov, 2022 12:08 AM

NSRCEL- the innovation and entrepreneurship hub of IIM Bangalore, has signed an MoU with Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru (YSBFB), the pioneers in social business financing and scaling.

YSB’s mission is to promote social business as a sustainable alternative to long-term aid, bridging the gap between business and philanthropy (Image: YSB website)
Promoting the use of Bheel language in emerging social media spaces
Languages of indigenous people have faced government neglect Posted on 30 Aug, 2022 06:53 PM

The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the period between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, to “draw global attention to the critical situation of many indigenous languages and t

The studio of 'Bheel Voice' has been built in the traditional architectural style of the Bhil Adivasis (Image: Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath)
Access to resources eludes tribals
Water access in tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh: Challenges and lessons Posted on 18 Feb, 2022 11:02 AM

Madhya Pradesh has the largest tribal population of the country, and 21% of its population is comprised of Scheduled Tribes (STs) as per Census 2011. The state has 46 recognised Scheduled Tribes, spread across the 52 districts in the state. Of this, three are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).

Poor implementation of forest rights act hurts tribals (Image: Citizens for Justice and Peace)
Grassroots implementation of Halma
Experiences of a Jhabua based NGO Posted on 15 Feb, 2022 08:37 PM

Jhabua, a tribal-dominated district with more than 85 percent population belonging to Scheduled Tribe (ST), is an agrarian district. Water security is, thus, a crucial element for its agriculture-based livelihood economy.

Tribals protect a community sacred grove (Image: Manish Vaidya, Hindi Water Portal)
Revival of a tribal practice for water resource development
Collective action for water resource development through Halma Posted on 15 Feb, 2022 09:00 AM

There are over 705 ethnic groups, which are recognized as Scheduled Tribes in India (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2020). These groups have their own unique Gods, beliefs, rituals, practices, and social systems.

The tightly knit tribal society also advocates community action for solving issues (Image: AKRSP)
Water management in the times of Gonds of Central India
The water structures constructed during the Gond period continue to survive the test of time and provide evidence of the water wisdom of our ancestors. Posted on 13 Jan, 2022 03:07 PM

The Gonds, ruled Central India for nearly 350 years since the mid-fourteenth century,. The principal states of the Gonds were Garha-Mandla, Devgarh, Kherla and Chanda. The Garha-Mandla dynasty is best known in history.

Kundeshwar lake, Kundam in Jabalpur (Image Source: K G Vyas)
Declining fertility rate and population in India
The change in fertility rate has an impact on the population-resource relationship over any region Posted on 03 Jan, 2022 11:17 PM

The second phase of data collected by the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) for 2019-21 was released on November 24, 2021.

Rapid population growth is one of the major causes of scarcity of resources like land and water (Image: Pixabay)
The fast disappearing traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan
Lack of community ownership and local governance are spelling doom for the once royal and resilient traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan. Posted on 02 Jan, 2021 06:00 PM

It has been four years since Anupam Mishra Ji, the stalwart environmentalist who had worked his entire life promoting the water harvesting techniques of Rajasthan, left. In his book, Anupam Ji extensively talks about how the water tankas (structures) were historically valued by the communities and were maintained regularly and governed through community participation.

Toorji Ka Jhalara, Jodhpur (Image Source: Rituja Mitra)
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). Posted on 07 Dec, 2020 11:52 PM

Three farm-related Bills were recently passed in the Parliament by the BJP led government at the Center, which have subsequently received presidential assent.

Farm women, overworked and underpaid (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Embankments in Bihar: The inapt and futile defence against floods
Embankments in Bihar have failed miserably against flood protection. Take a look on these frequently asked questions (FAQs) on why they failed and what are the possible solutions to floods in Bihar? Posted on 19 Oct, 2020 06:05 PM

What is the history of floods in Bihar and why is it prone to floods?

An embankment in Madhubani after a week of repairing (Source: Santosh Yadav via IWP Flickr albums)
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