Gender
Better awareness improves maternal and child health
Awareness meetings that equip women with knowledge on health and nutrition during pregnancy and after childbirth is helping to tackle malnutrition in rural Singhbhum in Jharkhand
Bhunjia women need better care after childbirth
Women of Odisha’s forest-dwelling tribes face a greater health risk because of their preference for childbirth at home. Counseling by health workers is now slowly helping new mothers get better postnatal care
Community bathrooms help women bathe in privacy
For most women in Bengal’s villages, a bath is a hurried dip in ponds while fully clothed to avoid the unwelcome male gaze. Community bathrooms enable them bathe in private and maintain better hygiene
Bengal’s weavers revive muslin, spin success
The revival of muslin, a fine cotton cloth famous for centuries, has infused financial stability into the lives of traditional spinners and weavers of West Bengal who were struggling for survival earlier
Cooking in iron kadhais combats anemia in Jharkhand
A women's collective movement of cooking in iron kadhais (woks) that helps in reducing the incidence of anemia in rural women is gathering pace in many parts of Jharkhand
Why Dongria Kondh women prefer childbirth at home
Lack of easy access to government healthcare in Kalyansinghpur, in addition to cultural and dietary differences in hospitals, is forcing Dongria Kondh women in remote villages to opt out of institutional delivery
Village girls shed fear and shame about menstruation
Through a health initiative that demystifies menstruation by using games and stories, schoolgirls in rural Jharkhand are learning about menstrual health and the importance of nutrition
Rearing goats empower women in rural Bihar
From just grazing goats, women in rural Muzaffarpur have taken to rearing them and attending to their feed and health needs, empowering themselves with increased incomes in the process
Girls in rural Rajasthan show zeal for science
A rural student’s aspiration has broken gender stereotypes, inspiring girls to choose to study science subjects, with Atal Tinkering Labs, science fairs and other such initiatives increasing science literacy
Revival of Lambadi embroidery stems migration
Failing monsoons forced Lambadi tribes in Sittilingi valley of Tamil Nadu to migrate, but a revival of traditional embroidery by women has enhanced household incomes and stemmed migration
Nursing the underserved to health in rural Rajasthan
As the world commemorates International Day of Nurses on 12 May, young women in Rajasthan have broken stereotypes, becoming nurses after marriage and motherhood, and transforming rural healthcare
Bengal women find viable livelihood in turkey
Overcoming hurdles and non-starter self-employment projects, members of women self-help groups persisted tenaciously and took to rearing turkeys, setting a successful livelihood trend
Ujjwala and waterwheels: reducing women’s drudgery
Regular supply of cooking gas and easier ways to bring drinking water home would significantly reduce the daily drudgery of women in rural areas
Santhal girls shatter social taboo playing football
Teenaged Santhal girls in West Bengal have taken to football despite facing community antagonism. They hope that the sport would deliver them from poor socioeconomic shackles
Village women up in arms against alcoholism
Women in rural Karnataka have banded together to demand a prohibition on liquor because they are the receiving end of alcoholism of men that leads invariably to domestic violence and financial hardship
Odisha women fight malnutrition with backyard gardens
Women in distressed and malnourished regions of Odisha are growing nutrition gardens to feed their families organic vegetables and legumes consistently through the year at no additional cost
Beedi rolling robs Murshidabad girls of their childhood
Young girls in rural Murshidabad are pushed by their parents to roll beedis, the poor man’s cigarette, at the cost of their schooling because being able to earn improves their marriage prospects
Maternity homes provide safe haven to tribal women
Pregnant women from tribal villages in Kandhamal that lack roads and mobile phone connectivity have found a safe shelter in intermediary maternity homes that prepare them for institutional delivery
Tribal women in Rajasthan assert citizen rights
Solidarity groups of tribal women in southern Rajasthan have started taking collective action to claim government entitlements such as food and rural employment
Child marriage ban helps Gond girls pursue dreams
In Gond tribal villages where child marriages were the norm till recently, a resolution by elders to ban marriages before legal age has helped girl children to continue their education