| | | | Hello Pz10,
What's common between doing whatever it takes to keep the home afloat during the Covid-19 crisis, making better farming choices for the family and the ecosystem, and the government's LPG programme? Women, the focus of several of our stories this week.
Jigyasa Mishra travelled to several northern states and found the story behind the data that show India's female workforce participation rate is the highest it's been in four years. Learn why Kiran Devi chose a lower paying job, why Geeta toils day and night first at a construction site and then at home, and why Gurjeet continues in a job where her employer does not respect her. | | In Shreehari Paliath's story on women's self-help groups that are front and centre in Andhra Pradesh's transition to natural farming, he finds that women were not always the focus for the programme. But because focusing on men did not change anything on the ground, officials realised it was going to be women who would change the course of farming in the state.
You can watch a video on these women champions, here: | | On Factchecker.in, Divyani Dubey checked the government's claim that about 95 million cooking gas connections had been distributed countrywide so far under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), launched in May 2016. The claim is true, based on government data, but it turns out that not everyone who got a connection continues to use LPG for cooking. This has health consequences, especially for Indian women, who still shoulder the burden of cooking at home.
Last, Flavia Lopes wrote about why it will be difficult for India to have a warning system for landslides, especially with changing weather patterns, and with a lack of active monitoring systems. Various institutions are working towards developing viable early warning systems to mitigate the devastation caused by annual landslides across the country. But, thus far, such projects are few, far between and not yet up to scale—all of which adds up to the possibility of more damage from in the immediate future. | | | You can help make a difference by supporting us to cover issues of public interest. Any small amount counts. | | | Shreya Khaitan
Senior Writer and Editor respond@indiaspend.org | | | | | | | | | |
