“My Income Hasn’t Changed In Ten Years, And We Have No Savings”

Whether it is putting off an urgent surgery or making do with 250 gm of fish for her family of four once a month, Lakhya Saikia, like most other poorly-paid ASHA workers, has to balance her domestic budget with extreme care


In Govt’s Maternal Health Scheme, Big Gap Between Intent And Reality

Initiatives to make the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana more effective has not quite worked out the way it should, we find


Budget 2024: Empty Declarations, Insufficient Allocations For Key Schemes

Schemes aimed at women did not get the big push they needed, we find


Assam’s Family Size Norm For New Initiative Could Hit Its Marginalised Women Most

Linking economic welfare schemes for women to their family size will further limit women’s participation in work and increase their vulnerabilities, argue experts


One In Two Trans Men Struggle To Access Basic Healthcare: Study

Most trans men and transmasculine individuals in India end up seeking private medical care because of multiple hurdles to government schemes, says a study


‘Queer Affirmative Medical Education Should Begin At School, Not College’

Medical education has remained largely binary, focusing on male/female bodies, heterosexuality and Cis-gendered lives. There are nascent efforts now to make medical education – and the […]


‘How will you manage?’ How Disabled Women Are Forced Into Surgical Procedures

Nearly a decade ago, Smitha*, who lives with cerebral palsy,  underwent a surgery to remove fibroids from her uterus. The doctors, at the time, asked if […]


India’s Laws Fail To Uphold Abortion Rights Of Women With Disabilities

Arpita Roy Sengupta was 22 years old when her parents, much against her wishes, arranged her marriage in 2007 with Alok*, a deaf person like her. […]


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, […]


Underpaid ASHA Workers Tackle Covid and Vaccine Hesitancy In Kashmir

Khalida Akhter (36), an ASHA worker from Sheeri village in Baramulla district in North Kashmir, died of Covid-19  in May this year.  An Accredited Social Health Activist […]


ASHAs Within the ‘Kerala Model’ Lead Covid-19 Response, Get Little in Return

Our 16-state survey found that in Kerala, ASHAs, women health workers at the frontlines of India’s resistance to Covid-19, feel empowered and respected. Yet, their demands […]