Positive Stories
High yielding maize varieties developed by agricultural scientists in Rajasthan offer hope to farmers
Scientists at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research develop two new varieties of maize for the kharif and rabi seasons. Farmers will no longer have to depend on private firms for the seeds.
Divendra Singh
Gaon Connection Turns 9: Here’s what its founder Neelesh Misra has to say
Two out of every three Indians live in rural India, but rural India is media-dark and India’s policymakers and citizens in general have no credible way of knowing what rural India wants, and what it doesn’t. Gaon Connection, India’s biggest rural communications and insights platform, has been created to do precisely this – give voice to the concerns, issues, challenges and achievements of rural India. Today, December 2, is our ninth anniversary. From a small room of a village school, today Gaon Connection has its network in 425 districts of India.
Gaon Connection
Dehradun’s smart water ATMs provide clean drinking water at an affordable price
As part of the Smart City Dehradun project, 24 water ATMs have been installed at various locations in the capital of Uttarakhand. Shopkeepers, slum dwellers, migrant workers and travellers find these ATMs convenient. Fifty per cent of the ATM operators are women.
Megha Prakash
A new bioformulation, mixed with jaggery and cow dung, promises to tackle crop residue
A new formulation developed by agricultural scientists at the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Lucknow, could be the answer to the huge problem of crop residue. Halo CRD claims to decompose the crop residue and at the same time enrich the soil.
Divendra Singh
Tribal women from Koraput make a clean sweep with traditional brooms
The humble broom has become an empowering source of livelihood for 1,500 tribal families in Koraput district of Odisha. Adivasi women, who earlier used to sell the hillgrass for making the brooms to middlemen for Rs 25 a kilogramme, are now directly selling to the government agencies at double the price.
Ashis Senapati
‘Sharaab cheez hi aisi hai, na chhodi jaaye’: Neelesh Misra pens a powerful poem on alcohol abuse — WATCH
Meri Pyaari Zindagi, the collaborative campaign of Gaon Connection and World Health Organization South East Asia, against alcohol abuse brings a hard hitting poem composed and narrated by Neelesh Misra, on the insidiousness of alcohol and its devastating impact on lives.
Gaon Connection
WHO’s approval of malaria vaccine brings cheer to malaria saathis and doots in tribal Koraput district of Odisha
Odisha has been successfully using a community-driven programme comprising malaria saathis and doots, who work with the ASHA workers and ANMs, to spread awareness on malaria prevention, conduct rapid testing and quickly distribute medicines. From 2017 to 2020, malaria incidence has come down from 347,860 to 41,739 in the eastern state which plans to eradicate the vector-borne disease by 2030. A ground report from the malaria endemic Koraput district.
Pratyaksh Srivastava
A father chose alcohol over responsibilities until the day his 12-year-old son didn’t return home
Gaon Connection collaborates with the World Health Organization for a social campaign against alcohol abuse. Video and audio stories along with memes makeup ‘Meri Pyaari Zindagi’, a series that aims to raise awareness on alcoholism. Read the story of a father who repeatedly faltered on his responsibilities to his family due to alcohol addiction. Could he give up his drinking habit?
Gaon Connection
Beekeeping gives the Santhal tribal women in Banka, Bihar, a sweet taste of success
Tribal women in south Bihar are transforming their own lives, educating their children as they efficiently run their honey business. Last year, amidst the pandemic, they formed the Banka Madhu Farmers Producer Organisation and supplied seven tonnes of honey as far as Mumbai. The district administration has identified a honey corridor to boost their honey production.
Nidhi Jamwal
From a domestic worker to Padma Shri awardee — here’s how Bihar’s Dulari Devi painted success
Bihar’s Dulaari Devi has been awarded with Padma Shri for her contributions to the Mithila folk art. But the intricate patterns drawn by her on the canvas seldom reveal the complicated struggles she grew up coping with. Here’s a peek at the life journey of the acclaimed artist.