Secretive. Exploitative. Is the market in Minor Forest Produce unmanageable? sopan joshi finds out

How tribals are conned out of their timber

Burgeoning population and agricultural encroachment in the last half century have erected artificial walls within the Gond tribes. These ethnic groups, dominating the Bastar district, have little social or economic interchange today

Drought-proofing is a far cry. The drought of 2001 in 11 states of India is likely to go down as one of the worst in the past century. Government drought relief schemes fail due to bad planning and corruption. It can"t even provide short-term relief to th

The government’s drought relief programmes are bound to fail in the long run. Even the Planning Commission acknowledges that funds for the drought relief is becoming illegal income for officials, politicians and contractors

Employment Guarantee Scheme, first of its kind drought relief scheme has had no impact on the drought-prone areas of Maharashtra in almost 30 years because it has failed to involve people in managing rural assets

Revisits by Down To Earth reporters to villages that undertook water harvesting offer some valuable lessons in drought management

The need of the hour is to decentralise drought management and think long term