Never in her wildest dreams did housewife Renu Thakur imagine where cows would take her in life! From Nauni village in Darlaghat all the way to the offices of the Ministry of Finance, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in the Himachal Pradesh State Government, Renu has been on a wild ride. Renu was one of the 30 founding members of the women only Amrit Dhara Dairy Milk Cooperative, which has grown from strength to strength - swelling to 300 members today.

Hamirbhai is passionate about water, which is a perfect fit for his role as the community elected ‘Water Operator’ of his village. At just 37 years of age he has become an advocate in the district for promoting ‘water quality testing’ to prevent ill-health among villagers, and has been instrumental in turning the water situation around in over 13 communities.

Something radical is happening in Inaj village in Veraval, Gir Somnath District. 15 young girls have become the primary breadwinners of their families, having trained in Electronics at SEDI - securing lucrative jobs as Assembly Operators and transforming ingrained perceptions about what women can do.

Ravikiran Saini is a fourth generation farmer from Bhagwanpur, Uttarakhand. On the surface he may look like a simple farmer, but this man is passionate about organic farming – so passionate and experienced in fact that he moonlights as a regular guest lecturer at IIT Roorkee.

The art of kitchen gardening is transforming the lives, incomes and health of families across rural India. Promoted as part of Ambuja Foundation’s health programme, this intervention played a crucial role in feeding families and generating incomes during the pandemic - at a time when supplies were restricted during lockdown and going to busy markets, a risk.

2 Sakhis in Dadri went the extra mile during the pandemic lockdown to help combat COVID-19 and continue promoting other health issues among women. Armed with only mobile phones and a fire in the belly, Sashi Devi and Sudha Kumari embraced ‘digital’ to connect with over 9000 community members.

When the lockdown of 2020 was relaxed and support staff returned to the AMK campus, they found it in complete disarray. The 2.8 acre campus and sprawling gardens were a mess – a far cry from the clean, manicured gardens AMK usually sports.

As India celebrated its 75th Independence yesterday, its struggle for independence against COVID-19 still continues. The second wave was a harsh blow for the health administration government and its citizens. But with immediate support from countries, various corporates, organizations and individuals, India was able to control the crisis effectively. Ambuja Cements through its CSR arm, Ambuja Foundation also played a major role at district level working closely with district collectors and local health administrations in fulfilling urgent support and medical requirement in rural areas. For such efforts various districts appreciated the organization on the occasion of Independence day.

In working among adolescent girls, the importance of menstrual health and hygiene cannot be emphasized less. Myths and taboos are, however, highly prevalent and dispelling them become essential to executing a successful programme in this space.

The Swacch Bharat Mission was undoubtedly the biggest public health, behaviour change campaign in the world, with the Government undertaking the gargantuan task of making India Open Defecation Free. Whilst a lot of hurdles remain, the impacts are clear - *110 million household and public toilets were built in just 5 years and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that over 300,000 lives were saved as a result of fewer cases of diarrhea.

Last mile coverage of maternal healthcare in villages across India continues to remain a challenge. The quality of health service provided by Primary healthcare centres and Sub-centres is often sub optimal, essential medicines and beds in short supply as well as lack of qualified medical professionals.

Proper nutrition till 5 years of age is the foundation to a healthy all rounded life. In a report published by UNICEF, 69% of deaths under the age of 5 was attributed to malnutrition.