Menstrual waste management is a critical issue in India due to the large population of menstruating individuals and the lack of infrastructure to manage this waste effectively. Menstruation is still stigmatized in many parts of India, and there is a lack of awareness and education about menstrual hygiene and the safe disposal of menstrual waste. […]
Managing Menstrual Waste in India: Going beyond the status quo Read More »
India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world today and recently in Feb 2023, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva remarked that the Indian economy will alone contribute 15 percent of the global growth this year, as the country continues to remain a relatively “bright spot” in the world economy (“India remains”). Behind these
Where are the Women? Read More »
Neoliberalism always promised the world freedom – the freedom of unfettered markets, property rights, and entrepreneurial self-ownership. A fierce embrace of individualism was posited as the cornerstone of the liberal regime, allowing autonomy and creativity to flourish. However, this now globalized ideology tends toward absolutism – advocating a one-size-fits-all solution for shared prosperity. It unequivocally
The Neoliberal Myth of Austerity: A Gendered Lens Read More »
In India, maternity benefit regulations have existed since the early 20th century. The Mines Maternity Benefit Act of 1941 was India’s first law to deal mainly with maternity benefits. It applied to women who worked in mines and stipulated a six-week paid maternity leave term. Then came the Indian Factories Act of 1948 allowed women working
Has the Maternity Benefit Act failed Indian Women? Read More »
Pratham, one of the largest NGOs working towards education reforms in India, released the 2022 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) in January 2023. The report is a citizen-led nationwide survey of children’s schooling and learning outcomes in rural India. It accounts for enrollment rates, dropout rates, school infrastructure, levels of language and arithmetic comprehension,
Keeping Girls in School: Learnings from ASER 2022 Read More »
The world is becoming more and more conscious of mental health issues. Yet women’s mental health is still underserved owing to the gender disparity. The psychological well-being of women is influenced by a variety of biological and social variables. Women have varied psychological needs from childhood to puberty to childbearing to menopause, however, the necessary
Women and Mental Health Read More »
After economic liberalisation in India, at an unprecedented rate, there was an increased shift in export expansion in the garment industry. In 2014, India stood at the position of the seventh-largest exporter of garments in the world. According to Make in India Statistics (2015), the textile and garment industry employs directly approx. Fifty-one million people
A Critical Note on Women’s Work in Indian Garment Manufacturing Read More »
“To deny people their human rights, is to challenge their very humanity.” – Nelson Mandela The first Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 — All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights — unequivocally embraces every individual and entitles them, uncompromisingly, to equality, liberty, and dignity. Article 21
Impediments to Dignified Life for LGBTQIA+ Community Read More »
Subordinated under the control of men for thousands of years, women today are subjected to various institutions and structures that are implicitly or explicitly under patriarchal dominion. In her work on women’s history, ‘The Creation of Patriarchy’, Gerda Lerner, an Austrian American historian, has talked about these structures in detail. One of her interesting assertions
In what could be a policy change of the decade in the higher education space in India, the University Grant Commission (UGC) recently approved draft guidelines under which professionals like civil servants, engineers, lawyers, artists, and media persons with 15 years of experience might be able to teach at universities and colleges without a Ph.D.
What Does UGC’s Move for Greater Academia-Industry Engagement Mean for Women in STEM? Read More »
