In the heartlands of rural India, where communities rely on the ebb and flow of agricultural seasons for their income, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)1 aims to provide livelihood security to rural households, thereby bolstering their economic well-being. Intended to be …

Since 1967, Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) has provided skill-based training to citizens in rural India. They now have 304 centres across the country. In 2021, Haqdarshak partnered with JSS centres in Maharashtra and Rajasthan to provide support to JSS trainees to enrol for documentation, register …

In response to the mass migration of workers, triggered by the announcement of the first COVID-19 lockdown, in August 2021, the government launched the e-Shram portal. It is designed to gather data on workers’ occupations, earnings, household details, qualifications, and other relevant information, to simplify …

Claudia Goldin, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, identified two critical phenomena that contribute to the gender wage gap. The first is occupational segregation, which highlights how women are concentrated in specific jobs and industries that are economically undervalued. The second is the hours gap, which states …

Manual scavenging has a deeply entrenched history in India, existing at the crossroads of caste-based discrimination and economic deprivation. Described by the Supreme Court as a practice which is ‘squarely rooted in the concept of the caste system and untouchability’,1 it is the hazardous practice …

India is ageing. Nearly 12.5% of its population comprises elderly citizens, and the numbers are expected to surge significantly. Findings from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) 2020, conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the elderly population will more than …

Prehlad Sahu, a farmer from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, with 2.5 acres of land, eagerly enrolled in the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme initiated in 2019. With the additional financial aid provided under the scheme, he could buy agricultural farm inputs such as seeds, medicines, …

In the digital age, identity verification, access to welfare programmes, and data accuracy have become essential for a country’s progress. India’s Aadhaar system was introduced as a solution to these challenges, promising a unique identity to every resident of India. While Aadhaar has its benefits, …

Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy, contributing 20% to the national gross domestic product and providing livelihoods to almost two-thirds of its population. Unfortunately, agriculture in India has also become more greenhouse gas-intensive due to the use of climate-unfriendly inputs such as mineral fertilisers, …

India’s gig and platform economy have seen significant growth in recent years — 56% of the new employment generated is via white-collar and blue-collar gig jobs. A 2021 report1 estimates that one million new jobs would be created by the Indian gig economy in the …

Like many other trans people, Mariam* decided to leave her family in her teens. “There was a lot of abuse from family and society, and no one understood me. At the time I left home, I hardly knew about the outside world. I only knew …

India is home to around 138 crore people, 80% of whom reside in climate-vulnerable districts. They are vulnerable to many risks, including displacement and an increased risk of serious physical and psychological ailments. Women and children are the most marginalised when it comes to the …

My name is Yapangsangla, and I am a Senior Coordinator with Haqdarshak’s Nagaland team. I work together with our team of fellows and Haqdarshikas to spread awareness among entrepreneurial citizens about government schemes that can help their businesses grow, and weather the challenges that small …

There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Media production is a rich ecosystem that draws on the creative skills of various skilled and unskilled professionals. We see the artists, the actors, the directors, and maybe even the cinematographers, but we never hear about …

Sex work is a term used to describe a wide range of activities relating to the exchange of money (or its equivalent) for the provision of sexual services. The term ‘sex worker’ often refers to those engaged in prostitution and is the preferred term used …

Zuvekholu Tunyi owns a restaurant in Pfutsero, Nagaland, where she sells her homemade pickles. She started her business in 2018 in order to support herself, and at the time, had no formal training or experience in running a business. When our HD, Eriteu Mero approached …

Gender is an identity gained through repeated bodily acts. Therefore, gender is performative, and not a fixed identity. —Judith Butler, Gender Theorist Gender identity refers to each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex …

When Manjit Kaur’s heart health started deteriorating 2 years ago, she struggled to arrange money for her treatment expenses. She had an arterial blockage, and a stent needed to be introduced to reduce her risk of heart attacks. She runs a small computer and print …

Jayshree Nirmal is a 56-year old resident from Tukai Nagar, Pune, who has been engaged in construction labour for almost two decades. She is the sole earner for her family of four members, with a monthly income of INR 10,000. And even though she is …

Laxmi and Khemin work as ‘Haqdarshaks’ in Rajnandgaon, an Aspirational District in Chhattisgarh. They joined Haqdarshak as part of a project which focussed on improving digital access and uptake of welfare schemes among the citizens of Chhattisgarh, especially women. They were trained on Haqdarshak’s tech-assisted …