THE FOUNTAINHEAD DONGRIPARA, DHAMTARI DISTRICT, CHATTISGARH

Spark came from non-recognition as a village • Integrated management of forest and water • Sees self-governance as a matter of …

THE SECOND INDEPENDENCE

Tiny forgotten villages teach India a firsthand lesson in governance. Down To Earth reporters and photographers fan out to six states to discover …

A memo to the government

To be a truly participatory republic, India must take tutorials from these tiny republics

In Birsa's Land: Horomocho (Hazaribagh, Jharkhand)

A coal mine to own and manage • Sustainability not profit as a principle • Revival of an ancient Santhal system of governance

Unshakable: Nimalapedu (Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh)

Reminded India of its constitutional mandate for village autonomy • Fought bauxite companies for not getting gram sabha consent • Has …

A Republican Paradise: Mendha (Gadchirolli, Maharashtra)

Defied the Forest Act ÔÇó Every resident contributes part of annual income for community works ÔÇó If somebody bribes a …

Chaotic response to calamity

The killer quake struck unexpectedly in the still of the night. Entire villages were flattened and thousands perished. Though rescue and relief …

Water is wealth

Excerpts from the Statement of Shared Concern by the participants of the CSE conference on Potential of Water Harvesting: Traditions, Policies …

At loggerheads

While the state government is keen to introduce JFM, villagers say there is no need for that since they have been carrying out all protection …

Message in a baton

The decades after Independence saw rampant destruction of trees. This was followed by years of drought. It was then that the villagers realised …

Nobody's waste

Kerala's capital wants a solid waste treatment plant in a nearby village. This has created a rural-urban conflict

Tehri: is it curtains?

The beginning of submergence of Tehri also marked the drowning of anti-dam sentiments. Any strong protest was conspicuous by its absence. Does …

Bank at your doorstep

Technology is helping public sector banks find customers in rural India. This is part of the Centre’s efforts to include villages in the …

Solo Performances

Besides the communities who have done exemplary work in the field of environment, several individuals are making a difference in the lives of …

Hamlets reborn

Although Bhaonta-Kolyala village walked away with the Down To Earth-Joseph C John Award, the judges came across several such communities worthy …

Awarded : Bhaonta-Kolyala

... for reviving the Arvari river, for showing that a healthy ecology and good water management mean prosperity, for proving that drought is a myth

Shrouded in controversy

A mountaineering expedition into the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve revives the debate on ecotourism and people's rights over forests.

India's nutritional puzzle

From the maw of the Indian state there has emerged an undigested piece of development cake: nutritionally speaking, people's diets are out of …

The revolutionary who transformed health care

ZAFRULLAH Chowdhury draws inspiration as much from Hippocrates as from Mao Zedong. To the first, he owes his medical ideals and to the second, …

Indian science must stop merely aping West

Cynicism is perhaps the natural fallout of a long career within the government machinery. But when Yash Pal, one of the country's leading …

Waters of life

Tarun Bharat Sangh of Alwar is well-known for its work on reviving traditions of waterharvesting. But few know about the economic advantages of …

India needs the science of the common people

It's a paradox that while the government is busy opening up the telecom sector to multinational companies, technocrat Sam Pitroda, perhaps the …

On The Warpath

They prefer to be called the 'forest castes'. They are the 2,000,000-odd villagers living in some 10,000 villages across Orissa. After …

Aaj Ka Roadshow

Liberalisation in India has not only affected humdrum life, but also popular cultural forms. This is palpable in the changing dynamics of the big …

A belief in tradition

It was a unique ceremony for a unique award given to a unique rural community of India. In what is perhaps the first ceremony of its kind, …