The government claims to provide equal opportunities for women, but the traditional power structure and corruption usually ensure the opposite. Aparna Pallavi reports from Ramtek, Maharashtra.

Schooling has become accessible and real for these for these children of brick kiln workers in Maharashtra, says Neeta Kolhatkar.

Confronting the history or failed justice for women in rural courts, a legal resource organisation sets up a training and fellowship program for women lawyers in small-town Maharashtra.

As Maharashtra takes steps to ensure domestic workers receive a living wage, Kalpana Sharma notes that this is about more than livelihood, it's about affirming the humanity of all people.

A multimedia curriculum developed by a Mumbai non-profit aims to have students critically explore the relationships between women, beauty and advertising. Geeta Seshu reports.

Rasika Dhavse reports about success in self-determination and natural resource conservation at a Maharashtra village.

A non-governmental organization has been responsible for the dramatic plunge in the infant mortality rate in Gadchiroli district of eastern Maharashtra, reports Rahul Goswami.

The recent national consultation at Mumbai on the right to healthcare included the National Human Rights Commission. The pursuit of "Health for all" is very much alive, says Abhay Shukla.

Kalpana Sharma reports on communities where women are leading efforts for change, against expectations and odds.

Servicing the market borrowings of the Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd is a deadly game where the social sector expenditure of the state is held hostage. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.

Rasika Dhavse profiles the Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA).

Rasika Dhavse profiles Arvind Gupta, winner of the National Award for Science Popularisation.

How much should domestic workers be paid for various kinds of labour? In Pune, workers decided they must have some say in the answer. Rasika Dhavse reports.

Rajani Mani tracks the spread of watershed development from Ralegan to Panoli in Maharashtra and notes that women have come to play a critical role.

Cautiously, but with conviction, some farmers are switching to organic farming, and bidding goodbye to the pesticide-driven harvests of the Green Revolution. Ramesh Menon reports.

A financially sick state corporation in Maharashtra gets an infusion of life from the generosity of MTNL, the Centre-owned phone company. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports.

Jaideep Hardikar reports on the precarious monsoon situation at the Narmada valley.

In recent times, Ganesh Utsav festivities in Pune have adapted to environmental concerns, says Rasika Dhavse.

Why does meaningful resettlement for Narmada dam oustees in Maharashtra remain slow despite a state cabinet show of willingness in January 2004? An India Together report.

Shahid Burney, a Pune-based editor-journalist recently used the Right to Information law to precipitate the transfer of a number of state police officers whose postings violated Election Commission norms. An India Together interview with Burney.

The government machinery has a number of explanations for the deaths of numerous tribal children in Maharashtra's Melghat region. But the adivasis themselves do not identify any of these as the cause of their deaths. Instead they point to the systematic destruction of their traditional livelihood in the name of law and development. Aparna Pallavi reports.

Akanksha began as an idea to give slum children time and space to simply be kids, to laugh and play. It has evolved into a unique learning environment that not only provides opportunities for them to gain employment but also in the process teaches tolerance and a broader view of the world. Jemma Purdey reports.

It needed the final week of an election campaign to force the most minimal attention, if that, towards the real issues people worry about. P Sainath looks at the balance of interests in pre-election Maharashtra.

Offer to build 320,000 houses for slum-dwellers. Deliver only 1146. In two years, only a tiny fraction of the number of houses a Maharashtra government plan called for actually got built. Dilip D'Souza dissects an infamous cross-subsidy fiasco that was born as an election promise.

A round table gathering of citizens and planners has identified ways to improve the city's transportation services. If successful, this initiative could serve as a model for active participation by residents in solving a problem every metropolitan area faces. Pankaj Sekhsaria reports.

Many teenagers in Mumbai are spending their evenings on the "untiring toil" of tuitions, trying to learn what their teachers should have been teaching them in junior college but don't. This is a system that unthinkingly takes away these kids' leisure time, says Dilip D'Souza.

Much debate over the massive dam projects on the Narmada has been on costs vs benefits as well as poor rehabilitation measures. But one of the original questions activists raised years ago was over the Right to Information. The 'RTI' factor may be finally hitting home, reports Jaideep Hardikar.

Municipalities are outsourcing city waste collection to private contractors. As a result, rag-pickers face a loss of their livelihood, unless the informal sector itself is institutionalised within the hierarchy of solid waste management. Surekha Sule reports.

The “simple man” silently walked out of his hut that fateful day, went to the backyard and consumed pesticide in the veil of darkness. Rising family debt had forced his children out of school, and that proved the last straw. Jaideep Hardikar recounts the stories of this and two other farmer suicides.

The Maharashtra State Cotton Growers’ Marketing Federation was originally setup to procure cotton from growers at reasonable prices and sell it to mills and traders. Instead, with government policies not helping, it has trapped itself and farmers in a vicious cycle of debt and losses, reports Jaideep Hardikar.

Last year saw Maharashtra go to the polls and the incumbent government offer freebies to farmers. But cotton growers in Vidarbha saw their problems only worsen as they entered 2005. None of the political parties seem interested in a real way out, finds Jaideep Hardikar.

Noted anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare says that enforcing a new central RTI law is not going to be a cakewalk. "The rulers regard themselves as owners, dictators – especially the bureaucrats", says Hazare in this interview. But he warned that a national agitation may leave New Delhi no choice.

We need to put aside our obsession with becoming "world class". Let us make our cities liveable for all the people, says Kalpana Sharma.

In Maharashtra, the Golden Jubilee Urban Employment Scheme can point to many successes for families below the poverty line. Surekha Sule reports on the social, economic, and psychological upliftment created by unusually diligent administration of a government program.

Property prices have gone up over the decades, but Mumbai leases land to private interests at rates as low as Rs.7 per sq.m. In the last three years alone, revenue authorities have on average lost close to Rs.48 crores, estimates Shailesh Gandhi.

Why were more than a dozen bills introduced late on the last day of the session, giving legislators no time to even read them? Why was there no debate? Questions are now being asked about how the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Bill was passed, reports P Sainath.

A new law could put irrigation beyond the reach of most farmers in Vidharbha. Huge hikes in water charges, penalties against farmers with more than two children, and prison terms and large fines for non-payment, all signal the transfer of agriculture to a few rich farmers, observes P Sainath.

Thousands of cotton farmers in Maharashtra are due money from the state's procurement agency -- the marketing federation -- for the 2004-5 season. Though officials maintain that they have released payments, farmers are not getting money from the banks. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

A new publication released by a leading UN research organisation shows that municipal water utilities may make efficiency gains and meet increasing water demand by innovative revenue collection and limited private sector participation. Researchers studied 4 cities in Maharashtra. Surekha Sule reports.

In Yavatmal district alone, there's been an eight-fold increase in farmers' suicides in just four years. Yet, thanks to a flawed counting process, even that is a huge under-estimate. P Sainath continues his series on the agrarian crisis in Vidharbha.

Should farmers sow early? Or wait to be sure that the first rains aren't just temporary? Should they borrow early, or wait until they are absolutely ready to sow, even if it means higher risks later? P Sainath finds that in Vidharbha, farming itself is a great gamble, with many victims.

Water-starved Vidharbha has a growing number of water parks and amusement centres. The iron laws of rural life don't apply in the entertainment complexes built right next to the poor. In a region that scarcely receives adequate water to meet people's drinking needs, there is plenty of water for the playgrounds of the rich, finds P Sainath.

Despite a strongly held belief to the contrary, Maharashtra's farmers have never demanded free power. And the suicides in Vidharbha were certainly not linked to this issue. P Sainath finds that the region is really paying the price of political power.

With the rains finally here, spurious seeds and other fake inputs introduce a deadly new element in the survival struggle of the Vidharbha farmer. Fake seeds from Andhra Pradesh have come in on a large scale. P Sainath continues his series on Vidharbha's crisis.

Many in Vidarbha, like millions elsewhere, have simply stopped seeking medical help for their ailments. They just cannot afford it. Some farmers have mortgaged land to pay health bills, writes P Sainath.

What does it say about our priorities when a rescue team trying to get help to victims of a landslide has to destroy other homes to reach them? Citizens might be resilient during natural disasters, but this isn't spirit; to find that we have to look elsewhere, and at other times, says Dilip D'Souza.

The Ganesh festival is the most important event in Maharashtra. This season, farm distress has hit the utsav badly in Vidharbha. Very few have money to spend. Meanwhile, farmers' suicides there are going up. There has been one almost every 36 hours this year. P Sainath continues his series on the region's crisis.

Many farmers deep in debt are trying to find a way out through playing bhishi (chit funds). Denied bank loans and desperate for credit to run their farms and for other needs, they take huge risks. The results are usually tragic. P Sainath continues his series on Vidharbha's crisis.

The Bhagwan Datta mandir in Belkhed, Akola, was built by Dalits when they were still Hindus. It was ostensibly the focus of the fiery violence there earlier this month. The real reasons? Caste, the decline of organised Dalit politics, the crisis in agriculture, and wage conflicts - all played a role, writes P Sainath.

Farmers weighed down by debt are now falling prey to land grab by an array of predators that includes talatis and school teachers. A "proper" deed of sale is the preferred method. P Sainath continues his series on Vidharbha's crisis.