The Annual Status of Education Report [ASER] 2022 was halted post 2018 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and has been recently released on January 18, with findings showing an improving state education system in rural belts across India.

Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, accompanied by the reduced use of green manure, has left the agricultural soil health poorer. The issue is so serious that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, requested farmers to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides

The villagers allege that industries and factories dump their toxic waste in three rivers -- Hindon, Krishna and Kaali-- flowing through these villages, which has contaminated the groundwater

Kalalandi was once known as the land of starvation deaths. For the past couple of years, UNICEF, along with a local NGO KARRTABYA, has been promoting nutrition rich atkel, made with finger millet and molasses, among tribal inhabitants of the district in Odisha. Results are promising.

For young girls in villages, education is a luxury. But most of them are forced to discontinue their studies even before completing secondary education. Besides safety issues, there are many reasons behind their dropping out. In order to understand the roadblocks, Gaon Connection interviewed many girls in villages in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh

Having sensed that the water from the wells in their villages is devoid of toxins like arsenic and unhealthy levels of iron content, rural residents in Bihar are gradually renouncing the use of handpumps. Community action aided by some NGOs has led to the revival of wells in the Khagaria district which has resulted in a decrease in the disease burden in some of the villages. A ground report from the rural hinterland of Bihar.