/topics/citizens-rights-and-duties
Citizens' Rights and Duties
Decentralised governance key to handling Covid-19
Posted on 22 Aug, 2020 07:38 PMPanchayats have been the core of India's rural governance even before they received the constitutional mandate through the 73rd constitutional amendment in 1992, forming the basis of decentralization in the country. There are 2.5 lakh gram panchayats; over 6 lakhs villages; around 4500 urban local bodies and 4000 census towns in the country.
![A first time Sarpanch of Lahora Gram Panchayat in Rajasthan’s Tonk District, stands committed, guiding the community with her political acumen. (Image: UN Women;CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/badam_devi.jpg?itok=zXs76_Kr)
Banking on rainwater harvesting
Posted on 11 Aug, 2020 10:27 AMNational Water Mission’s (NWM) has launched a campaign ‘Catch the rain’ on a pan India basis to nudge the states and stakeholders to create appropriate rainwater harvesting structures (RWHS) suitable to the climatic conditions and sub-soil strata before the onset of monsoon.
![As a part of the campaign, work is being done on various interventions such as water for productive use, improving irrigation practices, creating water recharge structures (Image: Pikist)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/rain-river-lake-landscape-reflection-trees-weather.jpg?itok=AtNNMf1F)
Migration and the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic
Posted on 06 Aug, 2020 06:05 PMThrough no fault of their own, migrants were forced to leave the cities after the government imposed a Covid-19 induced national lockdown in late March. After losing their work, fearing they would run out of cash and food they trudged back along with their families to the villages in search of humanity, food, and a place to live.
![Migrants contribute enormously to urban society and economy (Image: Pexels)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/lockdown.jpg?itok=Afg6nHIN)
Market linkage could ensure higher returns for farm produce
Posted on 03 Aug, 2020 06:49 PMA recent national study on farmer producer’s organisations (FPOs) supported by Tata Trusts investigates gaps looming in business transactions between FPOs and market players and recommends interventions to bridge these.
![Red chilli wholesale market at Karnataka (Image: Pxhere, CC0 Public Domain)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/chilly.jpg?itok=TzrI1-ay)
NREGA tracker looks at the schemes’ performance
Posted on 26 Jul, 2020 08:46 PMAs per the findings of an NREGA tracker launched by the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) the lockdown saw a record spike in jobs under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
![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)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/nrega_0.jpg?itok=_VxDldgL)
Kamla, Kosi and Bagmati rivers in rage, disrupt life
Posted on 15 Jul, 2020 07:58 PMDue to intermittent rains in the Terai region of Bihar and Nepal, the water level of Mahananda, Kosi, Kamla and Bagmati rivers of North Bihar is continuously increasing and flood conditions have started to build in the region.
![Locals provide aid to people hit by floods in Bihar](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/flooding_rivers.jpg?itok=p-2n5Y6Q)
Floods in Bihar: Government prepares to shift people to safer places
Posted on 15 Jul, 2020 07:51 PMDue to incessant rains, many rivers in Bihar are in spate and there is a situation of floods in the state. Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has forecasted heavy rains for the next two-three days, which may worsen the situation.
Heavy rains predicted
![Children drinking milk at a flood relief centre in Bihar (Source: Bhartiya Jan Utthan Parishad)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/relief_lead.png?itok=ohcWQg26)
Drone to help monitor embankments and save people trapped in floods
Posted on 12 Jul, 2020 05:50 PM#HelloWRD: A social media campaign
![Completed flood protection in Naruar, Bihar (Image Source: Water Resources Department, Government of Bihar, Twitter handle)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/repair_work_on_embankment_0.png?itok=XOG27oVH)
Floods in Bihar: Helping government fight embankment breach
Posted on 08 Jul, 2020 10:01 PMEvery year, incessant rainfall during the monsoon causes floods in the state, with North Bihar being the worst affected.
![Ways in which the government can be informed about the embankment breach in your area (Image source: Water Resources Department, Government of Bihar, Twitter handle)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/lead_hellowrd_0.jpg?itok=LZfDPz22)
Surviving in uncertainty
Posted on 08 Jul, 2020 07:33 PMUncertainty - the pervasive feeling that all of us have been living with from the middle of March 2020. It's the same in our partner villages in Odisha and Jharkhand. Communities we work with have been facing and overcoming uncertainties all through their lives. But this time, the crisis has put unusual stress on their abilities to cope.
![Image: Ajaya Behera](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/akb_6198_credit_ajaya_behera.jpg?itok=3nFnAido)