Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Futures At Stake As Scholarship Schemes Cut
Sujata Lilaka (21), a final year nursing student at YMT Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in Kharghar in Panvel district of Maharashtra, collapsed on her way […]
Chhattisgarh Government Is Taking Back Covid Incentives Paid To Mitanins
Usha Sahu, 45, a Mitanin trainer from Bemetara district in central Chhattisgarh was in for a shock when she checked her bank account in October. The […]
Adivasi Women Of Hasdeo Arand Lead a 300 Km March to Save their Forests
“We will not leave our forests and lands for Adani,” thundered Mayawati, a 65 yr old Adivasi woman from Fattepur village in Surguja district in northern […]
Mid-Day Meal Renamed PM POSHAN: New Name, Reduced Budgets
The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN), a modified version […]
Mass Sterilisation Camps Violate Norms And Fail Women’s Health Needs In Chhattisgarh
On August 26th, 2021, Dr Jibnus Ekta performed tubectomies on 101 women in a span of seven hours between 8 PM and 3 AM, at a […]
Government Data Shows Inconsistencies In Covid Lockdown Payments To Women
On 26th March 2020, the Union Finance Ministry announced a Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore COVID-19 relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). The […]
How Kerala is A Long Way Off In Gender Affirmative Healthcare For Trans Persons
Anuradha Govindan of Kannur, 38, waited for thirty years to embrace her identity as a transwoman. Before she was able to live the life she wanted, […]
Cyber Crimes On the Rise Against Women in Jammu and Kashmir
Farah Zaidi, a social activist from Kulgam district in North Kashmir was trolled online by men after her interview was published online where she talked about […]
Why the UP Population Bill Harms Women And Marginalised Populations
On July 11th, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, announced the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill as part of the state’s population […]
Central Government Disbands Scheme For Dalit And Adivasi Girls’ Education
The Union government has discontinued the National Scheme for Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education (NSIGSE) a central government scheme aimed to incentivise education among […]
Sulli Deals: Online Platforms Fuel Cyber Sexual Violence Against Muslim Women
Shaikh Tabinda received a message from her friend, on the night of 4 July, which read that she had been ‘sold’ in an online ‘auction’ on […]
How Garment Factories Forced Illegal Resignations Of Women Workers In Karnataka
As Karnataka begins to ease state-wide restrictions imposed since May 10, 2021 to control the spread of COVID-19 virus, industries have been allowed to function with […]
Despite NALSA, Transgender Persons Absent In Government Policies In West Bengal
Silk (28), a transwoman, was in for a shock as she went to cast her vote in Kalyani, in Nadia district of West Bengal in mid-April […]
Women’s Political Representation In Assam Slips To Its Lowest In 20 Years
Fewer women will now occupy seats in the newly elected Vidhan Sabha (state legislative assembly) in Assam in 2021. Six women were elected in the recently […]
Mamata Banerjee’s Schemes For Adolescent Girls Bear Fruit But Challenges Remain
“I am determined to go for higher studies. Once I get my Kanyashree money, I will use it to go to college,” says Jahira Khatun. Khatun (17), […]
From ‘Didi’ to ‘Banglar Nijer Meye’: The Rebranding of Mamata Banerjee
‘I will win Bengal on one leg and in the future, will get victory in Delhi on two legs’, thundered Mamata Banerjee, the current chief minister […]
In Poll-Bound Tamil Nadu, Labour Rights Of Women Workers Flouted
S. Rathinam (39) had escaped death by a whisker that afternoon. On February 13, 2021, she, along with hundreds of others, had to run for their […]
Long In The Backseat In Kerala Politics, Women Now Claim Their Space
Kerala’s first Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) was a woman.Rosamma Punnoose, 44 years-old when Kerala elected its first post-Independence legislative assembly in 1957, was elected from […]
All-Women Panchayats In Uttarakhand Reimagine Post-Covid Futures
“This is just the beginning; there is much to do and fight for”, said Kavita Arya (31), Dalit Pradhan ( village council head) of Rauliyana Gram […]
Rising Caesarean Births Increase Inequity For Women Among Different Social Groups
Caesarean births are on the rise in almost all Indian states, according to latest available data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5). In the southern […]
How Women Garment Workers Took On A Global Clothing Giant And Won Their Rights
On 24 October, 2020, 1300 women garment workers of Euro Clothing Company– 2 (ECC-2) of a unit of Gokaldas Exports in Srirangapatna, in Mandya district of […]
Teen Pregnancies Drop In India, Urban Rural Divide Still High
Teen pregnancies declined in most states and UTs of the country but there continues to be a great divide between rural and urban India according to […]
Indian Women Have Greater Voice in Households But Less Property Ownership
More women are engaging in making decisions within their households, are owning and using bank accounts and mobile phones which reflects greater agency that they are […]
Poor Wages, No Social Security Hurt Women Beedi Workers
“I have been rolling beedis since I was fifteen. Our whole community is dependent on the profession. Our employers underpay us, our pension never arrives without […]
Women Leaders Breathing Life Into Van Panchayats in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand is home to the fierce ‘Chipko Movement.’ Led by the bold and spirited women in the 1960s, the movement was one of the many significant […]
Transgender Persons Invisible In India’s Prisons
Transgender persons in India’s prison systems remain invisible among all the vulnerable groups, with their rights and dignity as citizens denied, according to a new report […]
How Women Farmers in Punjab Mobilised Against The Farm Laws
“These capitalists will ruin us,” thundered Charanjeet Kaur, a thirty nine year old farmer with a medium landholding of 12 acres (4 hectares) from Wara Bhaika […]
Menstrual Interventions Vary Across Countries; Still A Long Way To Go
As India announced one of the harshest lockdowns in the world, among the many groups that remained invisible in the government policy announcements were menstruating persons. […]
How Police And Justice System Fails Survivors of Sexual Violence In Uttar Pradesh
“Tum gareeb ho, tum rehne do. Waise bhi tum jhoota case likha rahi ho toh case nahi likha jayega” (You are poor, so you shouldn’t pursue […]
Cost Of Sugar: Women Cane Cutters In Maharashtra
Neeta (name changed), a cane cutter in one of the many sugarcane farms in Beed district of central Maharashtra, was only in her early 30s when […]
How Farm Acts Affect Women In Agriculture
On 27 September 2020, three Farm Bills became law after receiving presidential assent. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill […]
Adivasi Women Claim Power In Local Elections
Badami Bai (32), had a problem on her hands, just a week before the Panchayat (India’s directly elected village councils) elections in India’s western state of […]
Bihar’s Gender Budget Fails To Bridge Gender Gap
Gender gaps in Bihar are glaring. Nearly half (46%) of women in Bihar are illiterate, increasing their chances of being married early, found a new report […]
ASHA Workers Criminalised For Fighting For Their Rights
India’s frontline women health workers, or ASHAs, play a critical role in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. But when they demanded better pay, protective gear and fixed […]
Adivasi Women In Rajasthan’s Zawar Mines Reclaim Their Rights
Lakshmi Devi (56), a Bhil Adivasi woman from Kanpur village in Udaipur district in Rajasthan has not been able to harvest a single grain from the […]
Concerns of Raising The Age Of Marriage
In February 2020, the Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new proposal to raise the legal age of marriage from 18 to 21. A […]
First African-Pakistani Lawmaker Fights To Claim Power
Tanzeela Qambrani (41) created history in Pakistan when she became the first Sheedi Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) of Sindh Assembly in 2018. Her election to […]
Women Criminalised For Protecting Spiti Valley
For the past 6 months, Sonam Dolma (29) along with 15 women, has stood guard at the entrance gate everyday in Kaza town- the gateway to […]
Dalit And Adivasi Women Leaders Secure Community Rights
Surta Bairwa (33), the former Dalit Sarpanch of Srirampura Panchayat in Rajasthan’s Tonk district had enough of the centuries old dominance of the upper caste Gurjars. […]
Women With Disabilities Invisibile In Covid Policy Responses
“My bhabhi is pregnant but has no place to deliver. We are scared of catching Covid. We’re still facing the (basic) challenges. The biggest challenge for […]
India’s Missing Women Remain A Global Concern
Only 810 girl children are born per 1000 boys in urban Uttarakhand. In rural areas, the state recorded a comparably higher sex ratio at birth (female […]
How the Government Diluted Forest Rights Of Adivasis during Lockdown
Policy decisions for forest diversion during the COVID19 lockdown which potentially dilute the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) and undermine the decision-making authority of the Gram […]
How the Government Diluted Forest Rights Of Adivasis during Lockdown
Policy decisions for forest diversion during the COVID19 lockdown which potentially dilute the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) and undermine the decision-making authority of the Gram […]
Garment Workers Take On Global Clothing Giant
For over a month now, over 600 women garment workers have been sitting in protest against the illegal layoffs in the factory premises of the ECC […]
We Fought For Our Right To Our Land With A FistFul Of Rice
Anna Kujur (53) is a fearless Adivasi leader from the Sundergarh district of Odisha. Sundergarh is a predominantly tribal district in north-west Odisha where over half […]
Women Continue To Be Underrepresented in India’s Parliament
Women’s political participation remains abysmally low in the Lok Sabha- the directly elected House of the Parliament as well as state legislative assemblies. The current Lok […]
COVID-19 : Adivasi and Forest Dwelling Women Face The Brunt
Socio-cultural values and norms have traditionally excluded women from participation in community decision making fora and denied them equal inheritance and property rights, both under formal […]
COVID-19 : Adivasi and Forest Dwelling Women Face The Brunt
Socio-cultural values and norms have traditionally excluded women from participation in community decision making fora and denied them equal inheritance and property rights, both under formal […]
A double blow for Adivasi Women Collectives
” We are unable to sell Mahul flowers in the market due to the lockdown. Lockdown has taken our livelihood away”, said Baijanti Kalo of Bamandagarh […]
Women From The Bedia Community In Morena (MP) Suffer Disproportionately As Their Work Halts
The duration of lockdown has proven difficult for everyone, but it has been more challenging for those who belong to the marginalized sections of the society, […]
A “Resilience Fund” by women in coastal Odisha is Helping Them Cope With COVID-19: Story of Women of Penthakata Urban Slum in Puri
Satyavathi (48) has borne the brunt of disasters before and knows the heavy toll it takes on the lives and livelihoods of families. On 3 May […]
Adivasi Women Collectives Busting Misinformation
Every morning, Kamla Bai ( 30) makes a round of the hamlets in the Saklal Panchayat in Udaipur district of Rajasthan. Her mission is to bust […]
COVID-19: Intra-State Migrants Marooned Too
Thousands of families of intra-state migrants are stranded on the margins of Guntur’s world-renowned chilli farms, scrambling to live on a meagre supply of grains and […]
Women Continue To Be Underrepresented in Delhi Assembly
Delhi Vidhan Sabha, the elected body of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, has a dismal representation of women. Only 9% of the elected MLAs in […]
Women Resist Against India’s Citizenship Laws
‘Jamia ki ladkiyon ne raasta dikhaya hai, toh Jamia ki ladkiyon ko Inqualab Zindabad’ [ Jamia’s women have shown us the way, so revolutionary greetings to […]
Women’s Political Participation Sees A Steady Increase In Jharkhand
Women’s political representation in Jharkhand has seen a constant upward surge since the state came into existence in 2000. The proportion of women Members of Legislative […]
Haryana’s Women Carve a Larger Role in The State’s Politics
In Haryana, a state with a skewed sex ratio (913 girls to 1000 boys, an improvement from 830 girls in 2011), there is one gender indicator […]
Women Hold Fewer Ministerial Positions In State Governments
Telangana, the newest state in Southern India, finally has women ministers in the state’s council of ministers for the first time in its history. In a […]
First Time Adivasi MP Hopes To Be The Voice Of People
Goddeti Madhavi (26), the first time Member of Parliament (MP) from Araku in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) knows the trust that her constituents […]
When I step into the Parliament, I carry the voices of 10 lakh people of Araku: Madhavi Goddeti
Madhavi Goddeti may be a first time Member of Parliament (MP) in the newly elected Lok Sabha but she is no stranger to politics. The 26 […]
In Bihar’s Political Realignment, Women Suffer
As a first-time member of the legislative assembly (MLA) in Bihar, Jyothi Devi, 46, did well over her five-year term: She had 10 bridges—some of which were demanded […]
From Proxies To Politicians: Bihar’s Female MLAs
Thirty five years ago, Bhagirathi Devi was a sweeper in the block development office in Narkatiyaganj, a town in Bihar’s West Champaran district. Today, she is a third-term […]