A group of 18 water experts, environmentalists, researchers and civil society representatives has urged the Central and Delhi governments to prioritise rejuvenation of the Yamuna and protection of its floodplain instead of pushing a Sabarmati-style riverfront development project along the 52-km stretch of the river in the capital. In a representation published by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), the signatories warned that replicating the Ahmedabad model in Delhi would be “scientifically inappropriate” and could “threaten the river’s ecological integrity, compromise flood safety and weaken floodplain protection”.
India’s recent employment data presents a seemingly triumphant narrative: rural women’s labour force participation has nearly doubled, soaring from 24.6% in 2017-18 to 47.6% in 2023-24, marking one of the sharpest increases globally. However, a deeper analysis by global civil rights group Oxfam, coupled with warnings from financial accountability experts, reveals that this statistical surge is not a hallmark of women’s economic empowerment. Instead, it is a distress signal pointing to shrinking opportunities, falling wages, and a dismantled rural safety net.