Organizations

Call Shakti Vahini or the national helpline Childline to report human trafficking of tribal girls and women:
Shakti Vahini on +91-11-42244224, +91-9582909025 or the national helpline Childline on 1098.
Learn more: https://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=21889

“Rural communities certainly need education, but their life is interwoven with many social and cultural issues that must all be taken into account. UNESCO is right to argue that an integrated approach with a holistic view is appropriate.” – Santal educationist Boro Baski in “India’s rural primary schools still have room for improvement” (Development + Cooperation, 22 May 2016)
https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/indias-rural-primary-schools-still-have-room-improvement
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=20429

Making a living as honey producers: Farm Africa’s beekeeping programme for unemployed young people in the Tigray region – Ethiopia

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Matthew Newsome, (The Guardian) The Hindu, January 6, 2014 In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, increasing numbers of young people have no access to the land and its resources. Farming land here is already scarce, and many farms are very small. Many young people risk their lives by migrating to countries in the Middle East to work … Read more

Plan India’s Media clubs: Children enabled to report the happenings in their localities – Delhi

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KARAN CHAUDHARY, The Hindu (Metroplus), January 15, 2014 The Delhi chapter of Plan India is running media clubs to train young reporters in the underprivileged sections of the society. Karan Chaudhary reports from one such centre […] The enthusiasm of the children is palpable. Talking about her experience with the centre, Aparajita (name changed), one of … Read more

Terracotta project in Bishnubati village: Ashadullapur Rural Crafts & Health Development Centre – West Bengal

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The Terracotta & Pottery project has started with six participants from different villages in a workshop. Their chosen task is to preserve the Santali traditional life by depicting it on the walls of local homes. Six walls have been chosen in Bishnubati village. This project is already meeting with much interest and appreciation among the villagers. | View the finished murals and learn more … Read more

Bee pollination improves crop quality, shelf life and commercial value: Study on market value compared with wind and self-pollination – Royal Society

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‘Pollination crisis’ hitting India’s vegetable farmers

A decline in pollinating insects in India is resulting in reduced vegetable yields and could limit people’s access to a nutritional diet, a study warns. […]Despite the concern, no study had been done to assess directly the scale of the decline in natural pollinators, explained Parthiba Basu, from the University of Calcutta’s Ecology Research Unit. […]He explained that certain crops did not depend on insects for pollination, including cereals. Instead, the plants used other mechanism – such as relying on the wind to carry the pollen.However, many vegetables – such as pumpkin, squash, cucumber and gherkin – were reliant on insects, such as bees. […]Dr Basu said: “There is an obvious indication that within the ecological farming setting, there is pollinator abundance. This method typically provides the habitats for natural pollinators – this is the way forward.”He added that if the team’s findings were extrapolated, this would offer a “clear indication” that India was facing a decline in natural pollinators, as ecological farming was only practiced on about 10-20% of the country’s arable land. […]Troubling timesThe UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that of the slightly more than 100 crop species that provide 90% of food supplies for 146 countries, 71 are bee-pollinated, primarily by wild bees, and a number of others are pollinated by other insects. […]In industrialised nations, such as the US and in Europe, many farms employ the services of commercial hives to pollinate fruit trees and food crops, and ensure they harvest adequate yields.But Dr Basu said the use of domesticated bees in this context was not widespread in South Asia.

“There are honey farmers, but using hives in the field to pollinate crops is not at all common in India,” he said. […]

A number of possible causes have been suggested, including the misuse of pesticides, habitat loss and fragmentation, and the spread of parasites and diseases.  […]

Source: BBC News – ‘Pollination crisis’ hitting India’s vegetable farmers
Address : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11418033
Date Visited: Fri Jan 10 2014 19:43:22 GMT+0100 (CET)

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Towards an alternative model of legal service delivery: The “Bilaspur Declaration” in the service of rural and tribal communities – Chhattisgarh

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N. R. Madhava Menon, The Hindu Opinion, December 3, 20 To be able to deliver appropriate legal services to the rural and tribal communities, we need an alternative delivery system with a different model of legal service providers Delivery of legal services to the rich and the corporate class is organised not through individual lawyers … Read more