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Health
Forests, the fast disappearing treasure troves of forest dwellers
Posted on 08 Oct, 2020 08:08 AMForests are disappearing at a fast rate in India.
![Dried mahua flowers (Image Source: Pankaj Oudhia via Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/mahua.jpg?itok=9xhYqrsD)
Governance lessons that could keep us prepared for pandemics
Posted on 30 Sep, 2020 05:09 PMUnabashed assaults by human beings on the natural ecological system have caused the coronavirus to spread in the first place.
![Decentralised governance systems that allow to adapt and learn are best placed to deal with disasters (Image: Kantsmith, Pixabay)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/indian-1717192_1280.jpg?itok=qdQBG3pP)
Pandemic impacts on women – Stories of survival
Posted on 30 Sep, 2020 09:52 AMThe pandemic has wrought havoc on the entire world. Pessimism, suffering, unemployment, hunger and poverty resound in all corners. To survive is a physical, mental and financial battle. And every family and individual has an anecdote to narrate that speaks volumes about their combat strategy, losses and victories.
![Gender dimensions of the pandemic (Image: Gby Atee)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/1_8.jpg?itok=IZZdQyzo)
Overexploitation of groundwater highest in Punjab: Government
Posted on 23 Sep, 2020 01:23 PMPunjab no.1 in overexploitation of groundwater
![Overexploitation of groundwater highest in Punjab (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/27560459605_dd7aeae4a2_c.jpg?itok=jLJ3FewO)
Gendered impacts of COVID-19
Posted on 20 Sep, 2020 09:15 PMCOVID-19 has unleashed one of the greatest human tragedies of the contemporary era demonstrating our fragility and has laid bare severe and systemic inequalities at all levels. It provides several lessons in the conduct of all aspects of human personality, professional, societal, and institutional lives globally.
![The time-use survey indicates that women are now spending more time on unpaid domestic and care work (Image: Sunita, Pixabay)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/rural-woman-sunita-pixabay.jpg?itok=I04ZKPQv)
Sanitation empowered her
Posted on 14 Sep, 2020 03:58 PMIn a corner of the Kathagada locality in the Parhatiya Sahi slum of Dhenkanal stands a small neat house. Surrounded by a well-tended garden that is planted with fruit trees, flowers and grass, this is Reena Rani Singh’s home. She is a multi-purpose local leader and is a member of the local Self Help Group (SHG), Mahila Arogya Samiti and Slum Sanitation Committee (SSC).
![As a part of Project Nirmal, community structures including Slum Sanitation Committees (SSCs) and Ward Sanitation Committees (WSCs) were constituted at the slum and ward level (Image: SCI-FI, CPR)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/reena.jpeg?itok=xuoHTagO)
Agriculture and food security challenges amid Covid-19
Posted on 09 Sep, 2020 03:32 PMIndia has seen large scale rural-urban migration of people trying to escape rural distress in the last few decades.
![Women farmers produce vegetables through innovative farming practices in Banka, Bihar. They can sell their produce at regional markets, and earn a better income for their families. (Image: USAID, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/women_4.jpg?itok=beHGsoUt)
Ganga's riverine communities in troubled waters
Posted on 01 Sep, 2020 03:04 PMA large section of the population living in the Ganga river basin still depends on the river for daily use activities and livelihood. Hence, the cleaning of the Ganga river’s water and making it safe for use remains a major goal for policymakers.
![There is a need to formalise the traditional occupation of riverine fishing by providing proper licensing facilities to allow for targeted policies for the community in order to mitigate the livelihood challenges being faced by it. (Image: Pikrepo)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/silhouette-of-2-person-riding-on-boat-during-sunset.jpg?itok=w8DHnmP6)
Holy waters, unholy outcomes!
Posted on 28 Aug, 2020 05:52 PMRivers are revered and considered holy since times immemorial in India and mass bathing in some rivers is an age-old ritual. A holy dip and a holy sip of the river waters are considered to be a highly purifying. But is the dip really cleansing at all when almost all the rivers in India are known to be highly polluted?
![A priest offers water to the sun at Ramghat on the Kshipra river at Simhastha (Image Source: Makarand Purohit)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/kshipra_mass_bathing.jpg?itok=rJgzyAzw)
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)