Crisis – Gramchetna

The Collapse is Happening. Rural India is at the Frontlines

Farms. Families. Futures.
We are losing them all.

One Crisis Doesn't Come Alone. Rural India Faces a Web of Collapse.

Agrarian Collapse

With 86% of farmers working on small and marginal landholdings, stagnant incomes and rising climate volatility have pushed rural livelihoods into a state of chronic fragility.

Inequality

Top 10% own 77% of India’s wealth; rural poor are sinking deeper (Oxfam 2024).

Migration

450 million+ rural-to-urban migrants; families fractured (World Bank Report 2023).

Collapse of Public Services

65% of rural PHCs lack basic infrastructure (Rural Health Statistics 2022).

Water Crisis

50% of rural India faces groundwater depletion (NITI Aayog Report 2021).

Crisis of Democracy

93 out of every 100 Gram Panchayats did not hold a Gram Sabha in 2024–25 — a stark sign of how deeply local democracy is eroding. (Panchayat Nirnay Dashboard, MoPR)

Gram Panchayats — the nearest and most accessible institution for rural citizens — are constitutionally empowered to lead local development. But in reality, these spaces are struggling to function as true platforms of people’s power:

Decisions are often bureaucratized and top-down.
Women and marginalized leaders are present in name but excluded from real influence.
Youth remain disconnected from public life and local governance
Without true people’s leadership, rural institutions cannot solve today’s dynamic, multi-layered crises.

When Villages Die, Democracies Die.

Rural India is not the periphery — it’s the foundation.
65% of India’s population still lives in rural areas (Census 2011; updates pending).
What happens in the villages today decides the nation’s tomorrow.
Ignoring the collapse of rural leadership is ignoring the collapse of India’s democratic and sustainable future.

The Collapse is Happening. Rural India is at the Frontlines

One Crisis Doesn't Come Alone. Rural India Faces a Web of Collapse.

Agrarian Collapse

Inequality

Migration

Collapse of Public Services

Water Crisis

Crisis of Democracy

Gram Panchayats — the nearest and most accessible institution for rural citizens — are constitutionally empowered to lead local development. But in reality, these spaces are struggling to function as true platforms of people’s power:

When Villages Die, Democracies Die.

What's Broken

What We Need

This is not only about fixing institutions — it’s about enabling individuals to lead, participate, and shape the future of rural India.

We must restore

Participation

Ownership

Leadership

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