“Women belong in all positions where decisions are being made.” -Ruth Bader Ginsberg A statement by the UN revealed that women’s economic empowerment has the potential to increase economic diversification and income equality in addition to other positive development outcomes. While moving forward with any developmental intervention, it is essential that we address this huge gender divide that is present in our society. Women’s participation in the workforce is currently at 28% as per a report by Forbes magazine. The question remains, what is the cause for India’s gender gap in the workspace and how can organizations address this issue? As per the 2011 census, women constitute nearly 48% of…

For the past three months, we proposed ideas in the sectors of education, gender, and livelihood to bring about the rural reset. In this, and the last piece of the Rural Reset Series, we want to stress the importance of partnerships and collaboration to shape a new reality in rural India. Check out our LinkedIn page every Wednesday as we delve further into the below-mentioned topics. “Now is the time for unity” is what the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres told the world when the pandemic took over. It is not just a health crisis, but a human crisis and it is having severe repercussions on all walks…

Redesigning Programs for COVID: Models of Success It is a difficult reality that we are living presently. The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown has had severe impacts on institutions across the country. A majority of offices and educational institutions have been forced to shift to an online medium of operation. This sudden shift has cost over 122 million people their jobs (as per estimations by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy). Furthermore, a report by UNESCO reveals that 32 crore students across the country have been impacted by the pandemic. The consequences of this shift to an online mode are very different for both rural and urban communities. A study…

This article is the part of our Rural Reset Series, where we have considered forward-looking, long-term solutions to the issues and challenges facing the people of rural India. For the last three months, we have found proposals for innovative solutions in the areas of education, gender, and livelihoods, which are IndiVillage’s focus in the 17 sustainable development goals. There is no hard and fast rule that says only non-profits should work towards the betterment of rural India. The COVID-19 pandemic has given an opportunity to reset the way business is done and hence cast light upon the importance of having a social impact. There has been an increase in corporates…

This article is part of our Rural Reset series, where we evaluate forward-looking, long-term solutions to the issues and challenges facing the people of rural India. Check out our LinkedIn page every Wednesday to find proposals for innovative solutions in the areas of education, gender and livelihoods. The informal sector of employment has been the most impacted by the unprecedented lockdown of 2020. Azim Premji University and partner civil society organizations conducted surveys amongst nearly 5000 self-employed, casual and regular wage workers in 12 states of the country between 13th April and 23rd May and this study revealed that the lockdown had caused a massive spike in unemployment with two-thirds…

This article is part of our Rural Reset series, where we evaluate forward-looking, long-term solutions to the issues and challenges facing the people of rural India. Check out our LinkedIn page every Wednesday to find proposals for innovative solutions in the areas of education, gender and livelihoods. In 2020, the government released information that the agrarian sector is expected to grow 3-4% in the upcoming year. This is 60% more growth than the non-agrarian sectors in the country. The government attributes this growth to a good monsoon which increases the availability of water resources in the rural areas. However, there is an alternate discourse to consider. The managing director of…

This article is part of our Rural Reset series, where we evaluate forward-looking, long-term solutions to the issues and challenges facing the people of rural India. Check out our LinkedIn page every Wednesday to find proposals for innovative solutions in the areas of education, gender and livelihoods. At the start of the nationwide lockdown back in March, India saw the reversal of a multi-year trend of jobs and workers moving to cities in search of opportunity. Seemingly overnight, jobs and wages in urban areas dried up completely. And what followed was millions of migrant workers who onced crossed state lines and moved many miles from their native villages making that…

Imagine an algorithm that detects the presence of the COVID-19 virus through a lung scan? If this technology was readily available all over the world, then the way we dealt with this pandemic would have looked dramatically different. The good news is, this is a possibility in the near future as technology and artificial intelligence penetrate the healthcare world. Medical images account for at least 90% of all medical data today. They are by far the largest and fastest-growing data source in the healthcare industry and this voluminous amount of data poses equally large challenges for diagnosis. Having to deal with these data adds a tremendous amount of stress to medical…

After weeks of working from home with internet support from our end, we finally opened our offices again with maximum caution and protection. Impact beyond Employment As an impact-driven social enterprise, the health and wellbeing of the community we work in is very close to our heart. In the past year, we have impacted close to 3500 people with free healthcare services. With COVID-19, we have doubled down on our efforts to ensure the the safety and health of all community members with several initiatives. Our employees volunteered to distribute masks for members in the community to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. To support frontline workers in the community,…

This article is part of our Rural Reset series, where we evaluate forward-looking, long-term solutions to the issues and challenges facing the people of rural India. Check out our LinkedIn page every Wednesday to find proposals for innovative solutions in the areas of education, gender and livelihoods. Every day it seems we spend more and more of our lives in front of a screen. While technology already played a large role in our daily lives pre-COVID, the pandemic has accelerated the entry of technology into many sectors, and education in particular. Practically overnight, digital technologies moved from a supplementary classroom aid to the forum through which the entirety of instruction…