September 3, 2017
Recognizing that having a toilet within the premises of the house would most contribute to creating a dignified way of life, the women of Maidandih village collectively set about constructing these despite challenges and setbacks
September 2, 2017
Creating awareness through collectivization, about prevailing patriarchal-hierarchical structures and about women normalizing beliefs that define their existence as ‘inferior’ and confine them to being mother, daughter, wife, or domestic labourer, is a slow albeit rewarding journey
September 2, 2017
Giving up on traditional food and blindly having ‘development’ agendas in agriculture thrust on them has resulted in the tribals losing their wise and time-tested habits and practices, leading to heavy loss in health and economic terms. Today, they are neither here nor there—neither modern, ‘developed’ and prosperous nor in touch with their own indigenous crop cultivation methods and wholesome food habits
August 9, 2017
“Clay is just a lump unless persistent efforts transform it into a pot.” Bringing about social change is a slow and painstaking process and must be based on an inherent faith in the ability and wisdom of the people one is working with. The women of Ramkol prove this as they are shepherded by a young development professional
August 5, 2017
Reflecting on the assumptions and beliefs that a development professional has as he enters a community, the author explores the need for greater awareness, sensitivity and acceptance of villagers’ abilities, requirements and choices
July 4, 2017
Promoting SHGs for credit and savings and livelihoods is one important way of empowering village women; what is equally important is for women to be able to express and share their pain and struggle in their lives. Providing for safe spaces where the women can do so is a big opportunity for healing and resolution
July 3, 2017
Realizing that SHGs are not merely credit-and-savings entities but have immense potential to be instruments of development and change is a huge discovery in the writer’s professional journey
July 2, 2017
Encouraging critical thinking through open discussion in public forums, thereby challenging traditional beliefs about witches being the cause of all the misfortunes that tribal communities face is perhaps the only way that the bane of witch-hunting can be eradicated from society
July 1, 2017
Tackling gender issues that lie at the heart of women’s empowerment by setting up alternative justice systems saw the competence and compassion of the SHG members rise to the fore; they are now a force to reckon with
June 17, 2017
A woman worker uses her fingertips on an average 522 times, her fingernails 144 times and her palms 55 times for every single kilogramme of grain that she produces, according to a survey by India’s Ministry of Agriculture.