The Panchayati Raj system has been a total failure and retrograde. Mere expense-audit won’t be enough; the need is for a total revamping of the system by ensuring the answerability of the pradhans

What happens after the last reporter goes away? In a series titled 'Twice Cursed', Gaon Connection revisits the families of rape victims, now forgotten. Have they picked up the pieces of their lives and moved on? Here is what remains of the family of the 19-year-old Dalit girl from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, who was gangraped on September 14, 2020, and died two weeks later.

Last year, the panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki turned murky when a minor daughter of a Dalit, who was contesting the polls, was allegedly gangraped. The survivor and her family complain that they continue to face threats from the accused who are free on bail. In a series titled 'Twice Cursed', Gaon Connection revisits families of the victims and survivors of rape, now forgotten.

What changes when women cross the fault lines and take charge in local governing bodies? Many believe that women leading a panchayat can put the focus back on issues such as water and girls’ education.

Large portions of the ‘perennial’ Betwa river in Madhya Pradesh are bone dry due to over exploitation of the groundwater and the river. Poor villagers living along its banks trek long distances to fetch drinking water while rich tubewell owners sell aquifer waters. Will the Ken-Betwa link project solve the region’s water crisis? A ground report.