The Ganga supports more than 400 million people. It gives them water to drink, land to farm, and a reason to pray. But it also carries the waste of cities, factories, and towns along its 2500 km stretch. That is the core problem. For many years, cleaning the Ganga has been a national priority. In 2014, the Namami Gange Mission was launched.
The Government of India approved the Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) scheme through the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in October 2017 and launched it on 19 January 2018. Implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with loan assistance from the World Bank, SANKALP forms part of India's broader Skill India Mission, alongside flagship schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), and the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). While these other schemes focus on direct skills training, apprenticeship engagement, or standardizing qualifications respectively, SANKALP was designed to address a different, structural gap: the absence of a strong institutional architecture connecting skill development efforts at the Central, State, and District levels, essentially the administrative backbone that other schemes rely on to function effectively at the ground level.
Orunodoi is Assam’s flagship women-centred social-protection programme. Launched on 2 October 2020, it provides regular financial assistance to economically vulnerable households, with the transfer made in the name of a woman. The scheme emerged from a practical concern: women often manage household spending on food, medicines and education but may lack an independent or predictable income. A monthly transfer to a woman’s account therefore seeks to combine poverty relief with greater financial visibility and participation in household decision-making.
The Ganga water dispute between India and Bangladesh is rooted in the river’s transboundary character and the competing dry-season water needs of both countries. The dispute intensified after India commissioned the Farakka Barrage in May 1975 to divert Ganga water into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly system, primarily to improve the navigability and functioning of Kolkata Port (Ministry of Jal Shakti, 2023). The diversion of lean-season flows became a major concern in Bangladesh, where downstream water availability has implications for irrigation, navigation, ecosystems, and water-dependent livelihoods.
The department of Non Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) was established by the Government of Kerala on 6th December 1996 as India’s first dedicated state level institution to address the grievances, safeguard the rights and promote the welfare of Non Resident Keralites (NRKS) living or working outside the state, both within India and abroad.
A few months ago, while working in one of the tribal districts of Madhya Pradesh, I saw a water
conservation structure. The structure looked promising, but there was one problem: it had not
retained water throughout the year. The reason was surprisingly simple, the site had been
selected without considering the local topography and hydrology. The investment had created
an asset, but not the intended outcome.
India's demographic advantage is founded on the fact that it has one of the youngest and largest working-age populations in the world. However, a major portion of this population, especially women, do not participate in the workforce. Instead, they engage in unpaid domestic and caregiving work within the home. As per the Periodic Labor Force Survey 2023–24, 36.7% of the female workforce and 19.4% of the total workforce perform unpaid activities in the household sector.