Maharashtra possibly has among the worst track records when it comes to learning a thing or two from a crisis. In the midst of its fourth drought since 2000, the government has set in motion a slew of time-tested measures with what bureaucrats say is an unprecedented liberal hand. But there is little or no thought yet on why one of India’s most developed states repeatedly seeks drought relief dole.

Maharashtra is struggling to cope with one of the most severe drought crises in recent times, with many terming it worse than the historic drought of 1972. Rivers have gone dry and the dams are proving insufficient for even drinking water, let alone irrigation. In 12 worst-hit districts, many farmers are forced to abandon the standing crop and sell their livestock due to unavailability of fodder.

Akole (Ahmednagar district)/Etapalli (Gadchiroli district): Until a few years ago, farm yields in the tribal areas of Akole tehsil in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district were very low and people found it difficult to make ends meet. Since then, they have had their own little White Revolution, a success story in sustainable rural livelihood that has worked wonders for the environment.

PUNE: Some 40 years ago, a child suffering from diarrhoea at Jamkhed village of Ahmednagar district would have had little chance of survival. Not anymore.
Sofiya Pathan, 65, never studied beyond Class IV, but she can save a child's life. Lilabai Amte, 65, too did not get much of an education, but she can lecture at national seminars. Midwife Nanda Jadhav, 36, of Mahuli, can advise women on whether they need caesarean sections.

The Centre’s debt relief scheme for the farmers has given anything but relief to the poor farmers.
Despite the Rs65,318.33-crore Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme (ADWDRS) launched by the UPA with much fanfare in 2008, nearly 43.42 million (48.6 per cent) of the 89.35 million farmer households are still in debt.

This is the finding of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report on ‘Indebtedness of Farmers Household’.

The scheme benefited only the rich farmers and their bankers while the poor farmers continue to reel under debt.

PUNE: Activist Anna Hazare catapulted into national stardom following his relentless pursuit of the Lokpal Bill, but the unassuming dhoti-clad social worker has been a star in his state, and village, for a long time now.

Fifty-year-old Maruti Auti recalls the days when villagers in Ahmednagar's Ralegan Siddhi, 80 km from Pune, lived in abject poverty over three decades ago.

Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir are emerging as the new hotspots of declining sex ratio in India, according to a recent study published in reputed journal The Lancet.

According to the study, about 95 per cent of districts in Maharashtra and Rajasthan have witnessed further decline in sex ratio, slipping towards the range of traditional hotspots.

Sunita Narain profiles the man who never took half steps to development and transformed a drought-hit village into a prosperous one back in the 1980s Anna Hazare The first time I met Anna Hazare was in the mid-1980s. My colleague Anil Agarwal was travelling in search of answers to how India could regenerate lands and address desperate poverty.

Corporate sector should spearhead the search for solutions to climate change, says Pachauri

Hanshlal Tusliram Hande and Bhimabai Hande had a simple formula to turn around their village, Wankute in Sangamner taluka of Maharashtra