Society, Culture, Religion and History

2008 saw the coming together of various missions that coordinated and monitored sanitation projects in Kerala’s rural and urban areas. The Suchitwa Mission was conceived to aid and advice local self government institutions in matters relating to sanitation and also to monitor the implementation and progress of the Total Sanitation Campaign in the state.

With empty fields as far as eyes can perceive and perpetual water shortage, introducing flush toilets sure seemed the biggest challenge in the predominantly dry state of Rajasthan. A total of 321 Gram Panchayats have won the Nirmal Gram Puraskar in the state, but in India’s largest state, this amounts to less than 4% of the total number of Gram Panchayats present.

Despite the launch of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in 2002, Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh remained almost cut off from the toilet frenzy until 2006-07. Nearly 56% of households had no individual toilets when the campaign was initially launched. Five years into the campaign, less than 1% of the set target was achieved.

Recent news has been flooded with reports of the severe drought situation in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra. Even more shocking are the reports of large-scale suicides by farmers due to crop losses.

Fisheries are an important sector providing employment to millions of people in India and contributing to the food security of the country. Marine, inland fisheries and aquaculture are the main components of the fisheries sector.

Social sector likely to get less funds in Union Budget 2015-16

The magic that is a river, brings out a huge canvas of emotions even amongst the most hardened of us.

Water connects food and religion. Religious ceremonies often involve taking a dip in a water body, and any food or meal is incomplete without water. The same two things - food and religion - stand out in Bikaner. While hot kachoris and samosas line street stalls, Mata Karni Devi and Baba Ramdev (not the yoga guru) shower their blessings from billboards and wall paintings.

Arghyam, a charitable trust working in water and sanitation in India, piloted a behaviour change communication campaign in 25 Gram Panchayats of Davangere district of Karnataka.