community development

From dirty streets to walkable roads, landfills to lively community spaces, these five stories show how local action can transform everyday problems into lasting solutions.

The Pobdi Secondary School in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district was in a dilapidated condition, but Tumto Ete gathered alumni and mobilised villagers to change the face of the school.

Dunu Roy, who runs Hazards Centre in Delhi, talks about SNS Sastry’s documentary ‘I Am 20’, and how he turned to a life of urban and rural development to make engineering meaningful.

Childhood friends Sami Ullah Sheikh and Abid Rashid run hyperlocal venture FastBeetle, which ensured same-day doorstep deliveries to over 80,000 Kashmiri customers so far.

Thirteen years ago, women in Manyachiwadi village of Maharashtra's Satara district took the leap towards a more sustainable way of life. It was their money that sponsored the village's transformation into a model 'Solar Gram'.

In 2007, Jayashree Rao from Bengaluru sold her company for Rs 25,000 to start Grampari, an NGO that has improved governance across 200 villages in Maharashtra and benefited 1.22 lakh people

Samyuktha Kannan, a resident of Chennai, Tamil Nadu started a community garden in her locality after witnessing its success abroad. They grow a variety of flowering plants, vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Nitesh Mukane, who works at Aroehan NGO, details how they have helped tribal villagers in Maharashtra by solving their water crisis, improving health among women and children and increasing farm income.

Dr Prasanta Tripathy and Dr Nirmala Nair quit their jobs and launched Ekjut, an NGO that works to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates in Jharkhand and save thousands of lives among tribal communities

Through both the Covid waves, the tiny village of Kalbhonde in Maharashra stayed untouched by the coronavirus pandemic. Here's how they did it for over a year