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Maheshwari in childhood was very inclined to study, but at the age of 19, she was married even without completing 9th standard. She married in a joint family with a lot of responsibilities. She was involved in farming with her in laws after marriage. In an emergency, they took a loan from landlords at a high interest rate and remained indebted for a long time. In 2013, she joined Ganga Maa SHG. She was timid before joining the SHG. She attended several meetings and trainings, which expanded her horizon. She started moving outside and became capable of discussing various topics related to sustainable agriculture in different forums. She started handling the issue like education, medical expenses of her family, the input cost requirement, crop planning, among others.

Introduction Mansa District falls in the southern part of Punjab. Agriculture forms the backbone of the district economy. The main source of irrigation is canals, dug wells and tube wells. The major concern of the district is depleting water table. Being a desert district, Mansa has sandy soil, which has great absorption capacity and a low groundwater level. This makes the district suitable for the construction of soak pits. The idea of constructing soak pits in schools was mooted by district administration as a lot of grey water is generated from cooking midday meals and washing of utensils. Thus, constructing soak pits in the washing area would help in water conservation.

A Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) team from central government offices visited the holy district of Gaya which is home to the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Bihar to assess water conservation measures. They found that trenches along the hillsides could help store rainwater and address water shortage issues. The team comprised Chief Nodal Officer (CNO) – Shri B. Pradhan, Additonal Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India; Block Nodal Officer (BNO) – Shri. Rajesh Kumar, Programme Officer, MNREGA, Banke Bazar, Bihar; District Magistrate (DM) cum District Programme Coordinator, MNREGA – Shri. Abhishek Singh; Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) – Shri Kishori Choudhary; Director RDD – Shri Santosh Kumar; and Technical Officer (TO) – Ranjit Singh, Panchayat Rojgar Sevak , Bihargain Panchayat.

G. Kavitha from a rural farm family, after joining in SHG and with subsequent trainings has become a master on organic farming. She supports 44 SHG members in the adoption of new practices of organic farming. She has demonstrated the cost reduction on organic farming; she runs a NPM shop in her village . G. Kavitha has descended from a rural agrarian family. They have 3 acres of paddy land and a small vegetable garden of 0.1 acre.

Introduction Coimbatore District is located in the north-western part of Tamil Nadu State. The groundwater was overexploited in 213 out of 228 Gram Panchayats of the district while the remaining 15 were in semi-critical zone. During the last 10 years, the average rainfall in the district declined from 690 mm to 616 mm, which leads to a reduction in the water table and natural resources. An uncertainty in seasonal monsoon reduced water storage in the reservoirs and conventional water bodies with depletion of the water table. This led to scarcity of water for public utilities and irrigation purposes. Hence, it was proposed to harvest rainwater through earthen bunds in the land belonging to small and marginal farmers under MGNREGS.

Life was a struggle for Chinta Devi (80+) who suffered from some form of mental illness. As if the strains of having to make ends meet through farming activities were not enough, she had been going out to defecate in the open for as long as she could remember. It was a practice followed for generations – representing immense challenges for the elderly, particularly during monsoons and winters. She lived with her widowed daughter-in-law Rajavanti Devi (wife of late Biswamohan Singh) and four grandsons in Bandichapra Village (Baligaw panchayat, Parsa Block) in Saran district of Bihar. About 40 households lived in that village, all of who did not own toilets.

Even after an early marriage, Rekha Devi continued her study, helped her husband in agriculture and did wage labour to contribute to her family. She took two doses of loan from her SHG and purchased two buffaloes. She became a Krishi Sakhi, got training on new practices of agro-ecology, applied the learning in her field, thus increasing her income to Rs 1.25 lakh per annum. She formed and ran FFS, provided support to 30 SHG members in the adoption of various practices that reduced their cost of cultivation by Rs 1,575 per bigha and increased the production of Bajra by 30 kg per bigha.

Introduction Eachangadu village in Mathur Panchayat Union is situated in Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu. In this village, the demand for water was greater than its availability. This made groundwater recharge a crucial aspect of overall water resource management through the revival of aquifers in this area. Water conservation and harvesting structures needed to be constructed to augment and improve the level of groundwater. Besides, the renovation of traditional water bodies also helped in drought mitigation. So, the construction of recharge wells and renovation of minor irrigation tank were undertaken under MGNREGS.

It’s been an uphill battle for the seaside town of Pondicherry in the Union Territory of Puducherry over the past few months as district officials made every effort to rejuvenate, renovate and restore water bodies in the district, many of which were almost lost or encroached upon. The initiative is a part of Puducherry’s Neerum Oorum (Water and Village) Scheme to adopt water bodies, renovate them and protect them. According to District Collector, Dr. T. Arun, many of the water bodies and ponds were almost lost, overrun as they were with foliage, waste or encroachments. Some of them were almost flat and dry. “Given the high levels of groundwater exploitation, water shortage is common here during many months. So we decided to set things right.” he said.