The impact of climate change on food and nutrition security is exacerbating the existing inequalities in access to resources and contributing to injustice. Those who have done the least to cause the climate change problem are already suffering its impacts on one of their most fundamental human rights – the right to food. The marginalised communities and primitive tribes and communities are adversely affected. Their dependence on the natural resources for income and nutrition has crippled their livelihood.

In India, almost 52 per cent of the labour force is employed in the agricultural sector, yet the sector contribution to the national GDP is only 17 per cent. This discrepancy is on account of a neglected policy for agriculture and farming communities continue to suffer due to lack of agricultural modernisation, ecological degradation and rural indebtedness. Farmer suicides and food prices have been on the rise in India since the last few years. The condition of farmers in the semi-arid region of Bundelkhand in Central India is deplorable.

Planning is the most essential part of successful and result-oriented implementation of any scheme or plan. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has a broad horizon and high promises; in this vision the government is investing a majority of its finances in this particular scheme.

Given the importance of a credible monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of NREGS for qualitative improvements, timely redressal of grievances and mid course corrections in implementation, a third party monitoring and evaluation team was set up in June 2009 by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005 has been a landmark legislation in the Indian history of social security legislation post independence.

NREGS has a strong rights-based perspective. The facilitation of the basic right of a decent job which requires complementary social supports such as insurance, gender equity, child care, financial literacy, awareness building, etc., is critical to it.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been devised as a public works programme to address the issue of a rights-based approach to development; provide income security to the rural households through guaranteed wage employment; reduce/check distress migration from rural to urban areas; and create durable community assets (in the rural areas) to trigger an overall development of

In the 1990s, when one spoke of Corporate Social Responsibility, it was very quickly concluded to be donations. It was understood to be a philanthropic gesture which the organisations undertook as their responsibility towards the society.

One of the gravest problems ahead of us is the availability of drinking water in rural areas. Public-private partnership (PPP) is the new development mantra. In the area of provision of safe drinking water in rural areas, some notable work has already been carried out.

When it came to encourage the use of solar energy in Rampura, the man of the hour was Ghanshyam Yadav. A pilot project was planned by Scatec Solar in collaboration with Development Alternatives to develop solar energy in Rampura village, Jhansi. Rampura was yet to be blessed with electricity.