/topics/citizens-rights-and-duties
Citizens' Rights and Duties
A hard look at the strategy of fighting open defecation
Posted on 05 Mar, 2015 10:31 PMWith over 620 million defecating in the open in India, do we need a new approach to curb this practice? The force of habit is such that even households with toilets have around forty percent of adults defecating in the open. But, does curbing open defecation necessarily lead to significant improvements in child health outcomes like diarrhoea, anaemia, parasite infection and growth?
![School sanitation at Mysore](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/school_sanitation_at_mysore.jpg?itok=TYKlv-NR)
Are there solutions to epidemics from water-borne diseases?
Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 10:06 PMBetween May and December 2014, 17 deaths were registered in Sambalpur due to jaundice but residents say that the death toll due to water-borne diseases is much more than that. In January 2015, the Odisha High Court issued a notice to the state government asking it to furnish details on the steps taken to check the Jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur.
What is Jaundice?
![Polluted water in Sambalpur, Odisha](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/_dsc0014.jpg?itok=kPzZmURh)
A way to minimise agricultural problems in India
Posted on 24 Feb, 2015 10:10 AMMuneswar and more than 170 farmers in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh have no regrets after shifting over from traditional agricultural methods of farming to the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method. Why would they? Most of them have been overwhelmed by the kind of returns they have got compared to their investments.
![SRI beneficiaries in Ambikapur](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/_dsc0038tps.jpg?itok=kqeq4zkG)
Small farming needs a budget boost
Posted on 24 Feb, 2015 10:02 AMThe agriculture sector has been playing a significant role in shaping India’s overall growth trajectory. What promising initiatives should the Budget 2015-16 come up with? Should it extend timely credit facilities to farmers belonging to all the farming categories? Should it extend crop insurance facilities to all farmers and for all crops?
![Farmer in Palamau; Image: VSK, Palamau](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/farmer_in_palamau.jpg?itok=W2ORIguh)
Water Untouched: A film on Dalits' lack of access
Posted on 19 Feb, 2015 08:59 AM“The Dalits of this country get access to water on the goodwill of the dominant caste. Water to untouchables is still miles away,” says Goldy M George, a Dalit activist and an expert on Dalit rights.
![A Dalit woman in Ekta Nagar, Raipur](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/_dsc0144tps.jpg?itok=YnuOr5G-)
India ranked 12th in mismanaging plastic waste
Posted on 17 Feb, 2015 08:28 PM8 million tonnes of plastic waste dumped into world's oceans in 2010: Study
![Two oceans meeting at Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/9802916364_f20375357d_z.jpg?itok=KB3C6V-u)
Citizens charter on drinking water and sanitation before Union Budget
Posted on 13 Feb, 2015 02:24 PMA National Convention on Union Budget 2015-16 by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi held on 8th and 9th January 2015 brought together around 200 Civil Society Organisations from more than 20 States to discuss the policy asks for water and sanitation sector.
![Water facility by WASMO in Gujarat](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/wasmo.jpg?itok=0QEUsnHy)
Porous pavements to save concrete jungles!
Posted on 08 Jan, 2015 10:20 PMDespite its shrinking greens, Delhi has significant tree diversity. Pradip Krishen, a naturalist, author and filmmaker, identifies around 250 tree species in the concrete jungle, in his book titled ‘Trees of Delhi’ published in 2007. But these trees do not have the breathing room they need as the Public Works Department's (PWD) pavement tiling projects enclose trees completely in concrete.
![Porous tiles act as flood absorbers in the city](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/dsc00518.jpg?itok=3btDbb3W)
From wasteland to wonderland
Posted on 04 Jan, 2015 09:32 PMAs you drive from Jodhpur to Jaipur, the barren and desolate terrain underscores the harsh environment. The land is bleached due to high soil salinity, and there are no water sources in sight. This guarantees that there is no vegetation other than weeds like Israeli babool (akesia tortlis).
![Around 15 lakes helped deal with soil salinity](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/dsc04462.jpg?itok=iH0Bqs-9)