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    • Women standing in a circle in a brightly lit room holding hands--counsellors
    Health & Well-being

    Who counsels the children’s counsellors in Shillong?

    Counsellors working at a nonprofit in Meghalaya’s capital city speak about compassion fatigue and workplace well-being, and emphasise the need for therapist support groups.
    by Samme Massar | 2 min read

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    Latest

    a man shows his camera to two children--conservation
    Environment
    In rural Mizoram, I struggle to stop my community from hunting
    A biodiversity conservationist in Murlen village reflects on the challenge of convincing his community to let go of traditions that endanger the environment.
    by Pauzatuala | 2 min read
    green fields, with those farther away cut into neat plots, and blue skies with some clouds--gramdan
    Social Justice
    Half a century later, where does India’s Gramdan movement stand today?
    Led by Vinoba Bhave, Gramdan, or collective land ownership by villages, emerged as a major social movement in the 1950s and ‘60s. While more than 3,000 gramdani villages exist even today, these communities face complex challenges.
    by India Development Review | 6 min read
    A group of three women facing a man and woman standing and writing in their notebooks-Monitoring and evaluation
    Ecosystem Development
    It’s time to rethink MEL
    Originally devised to help organisations reflect and learn from their work, monitoring, evaluation, and learning has been reduced to a reporting tool. How can this change?
    by India Development Review | 4 min read
    a group of people sitting on a carpeted floor--participant data
    Ecosystem Development
    Keeping participant data safe: What researchers can do
    Social science research often involves collecting personal and sensitive information. Data de-identification is one key way researchers can protect participants’ privacy.
    by Chandan Jain, Anagha Mariya Jose | 4 min read
    a greyscale image of india gate, new delhi, with some people in the foreground and a thick smog everywhere--nonprofit humour
    Humour
    Smog in the times of Khusrau
    Delhi, the city of love and flair? No, it’s Delhi, gasping for air.
    by Anjali Mishra, Kumar Unnayan | 2 min read

    Ground Up

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    Bite-sized stories from the people closest to the action.


    Health & Well-being
    Who counsels the children’s counsellors in Shillong?
    by Samme Massar
    Location Icon East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya
    Environment
    photo
    In rural Mizoram, I struggle to stop my community from hunting
    by Pauzatuala
    Location Icon Champhai district, Mizoram
    Advocacy & Government
    photo
    Why villagers in West Jaintia Hills quit agriculture for MGNREGA
    by Mayfereen Ryntathiang
    Location Icon West Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya ; East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya
    Health & Well-being
    photo
    Ladakh’s drying climate is causing a health crisis for women
    by Safeena Wani
    Location Icon Leh district, Ladakh

    Videos

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    On The Contrary | Episode 5: Well-being in a tech-first world (Part I)
    On The Contrary | Episode 5: Well-being in a tech-first world (Part II)
    On The Contrary | Episode 4 – Lessons on well-being in activism: Kumi Naidoo and Louisa Zondo

    A day in the life of

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    Frontline workers and first responders share their insights from working at the grassroots.


    a female forest guard puts out a forest fire in Mewar Biodiversity Park, Udaipur district, Rajasthan--forest guard
    Environment
    Why conservation needs connection: Guarding Rajasthan’s forests
    A day in the life of a forest guard, who navigates gender roles, community needs, and conservation in Rajasthan.
    by Santosh Kunwar Bhati | 5 min read
    Women in a village standing in a group and talking_mental health stigma
    Health & Well-being
    From self to society: Navigating silence and stigma around mental health
    A day in the life of a community health worker in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, who tackles mental health stigma through trust and support—in her own life and for the people she serves.
    by Geeta Shakya | 6 min read
    a teacher coach observing a class in session--government school teachers
    Education
    Observing classrooms, building capacities
    A day in the life of an educator, who uses a technology-enabled approach to coach government school teachers in Palghar, Maharashtra.
    by Ketan Tambe | 8 min read

    Failure Files

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    Social change leaders chronicle their failures and lessons learnt.

    Silhouetted birds perched on bare tree_leadership failure
    Leadership & Talent
    Building team culture isn’t optional
    A nonprofit co-founder reflects on how scaling rapidly unintentionally alienated employees, which led to cracks in organisational culture.
    by Vijayalakshmi Mohan | 7 min read
    Aerial shot of women protestors sitting_well-being
    Social Justice
    Preparing for a marathon, not a sprint 
    Dalit civil rights activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan on why failure is an opportunity to build power, how systems of oppression affect well-being, and what healing looks like for individuals and communities.
    by India Development Review | 10 min read
    Barbed wire_nonprofits
    Leadership & Talent
    Why don’t nonprofits talk about their failures?
    A number of risks, both real and perceived, stop nonprofits from talking about failure. Here's how various stakeholders can work together to overcome them.
    by Tanaya Jagtiani, Rachita Vora | 7 min read

    IDR Interviews

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    Conversations with visionaries on their life's work, and their efforts to challenge the status quo in our country.

    The image is an illustration of Devika Singh._Early childhood care
    "You can’t talk about childcare without talking about labour. About migration. About how women work long hours for low wages. About where they live, what they eat, how invisible they are to systems meant to serve them."
    Devika Singh
    9 min read
    an image of Dayamani Barla against a turquoise background-adivasi
    "Activists should go to places where laws are made and also where laws are implemented. If you don’t get into politics, you won’t be able to save the country."
    Dayamani Barla
    3 min read
    Madhu mansuri hasmukh
    "I spoke of the rights of Adivasis in my songs. When the state of Jharkhand was created, we had great aspirations, and  these aspirations are also woven into my songs."
    Madhu Mansuri Hasmukh
    8 min read

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    Sectors

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    Insights and analysis of specific sectors in the development arena—what works, what doesn't, and what needs to change.

    See all coverage by topic:
  • Agriculture
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Health & Well-being
  • Livelihoods
  • Rights
  • Water & Sanitation
    • Ranglong women smoking a bamboo hookah at a local shop in Laikhua; a traditional bamboo basket in front of them.--bamboo-based livelihoods
    Livelihoods
    Cash crops, highways, and the Ranglongs’ struggle for identity
    A growing push for cash crops like rubber and areca nut threatens the bamboo-based livelihoods and traditions of the Ranglongs in North Tripura.
    by Hansatanu Roy | 4 min read
    a group of farmers standing in a field with their thumbs up facing the camera, with trees in the background--commons governance
    Rights
    Hamaare gaon mein hum hi sarkaar: Reclaiming commons across India
    India's commons are often seized from the people who nurture them. Here's how communities are asserting their right to govern these lands.
    by Srishti Gupta, Tanupriya Singh | 9 min read
    a group of women seated in a hall with their hands raised--Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)
    Agriculture
    Building sustainable FPOs: Lessons from India’s cooperatives
    By early 2025, 10,000 FPOs had been set up in India under a central government scheme. But a focus on targets risks undermining what makes FPOs truly viable—community ownership, infrastructure, and capacity building.
    by Divyaa Poonam Gupta, Sanjana Mohanty | 7 min read

    Themes

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    Approaches and ideas that cut across sectors and counter the dominant narratives around us.

    See all coverage by topic:
  • Advocacy & Government
  • Climate Emergency
  • Collaboration
  • COVID-19
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Ecosystem Development
  • Gender
  • Inequality
  • Philanthropy & CSR
  • Scale
  • Social Business
  • Social Justice
  • Urban
  • Youth
    • green fields, with those farther away cut into neat plots, and blue skies with some clouds--gramdan
    Social Justice
    Half a century later, where does India’s Gramdan movement stand today?
    Led by Vinoba Bhave, Gramdan, or collective land ownership by villages, emerged as a major social movement in the 1950s and ‘60s. While more than 3,000 gramdani villages exist even today, these communities face complex challenges.
    by India Development Review | 6 min read
    A group of three women facing a man and woman standing and writing in their notebooks-Monitoring and evaluation
    Ecosystem Development
    It’s time to rethink MEL
    Originally devised to help organisations reflect and learn from their work, monitoring, evaluation, and learning has been reduced to a reporting tool. How can this change?
    by India Development Review | 4 min read
    a group of people sitting on a carpeted floor--participant data
    Ecosystem Development
    Keeping participant data safe: What researchers can do
    Social science research often involves collecting personal and sensitive information. Data de-identification is one key way researchers can protect participants’ privacy.
    by Chandan Jain, Anagha Mariya Jose | 4 min read

    Expertise

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    Skills and functions that are core to growing programmes and organisations.

    See all coverage by topic:
  • Board & Governance
  • Fundraising & Communications
  • Leadership & Talent
  • Monitoring & Evaluation
  • Programme
  • Technology
    • A group of three women facing a man and woman standing and writing in their notebooks-Monitoring and evaluation
    Ecosystem Development
    It’s time to rethink MEL
    Originally devised to help organisations reflect and learn from their work, monitoring, evaluation, and learning has been reduced to a reporting tool. How can this change?
    by India Development Review | 4 min read
    a group of people sitting on a carpeted floor--participant data
    Ecosystem Development
    Keeping participant data safe: What researchers can do
    Social science research often involves collecting personal and sensitive information. Data de-identification is one key way researchers can protect participants’ privacy.
    by Chandan Jain, Anagha Mariya Jose | 4 min read
    a vegetable vendor in India selling vegetables--community-driven change
    Monitoring & Evaluation
    Measure what matters to the community
    To effectively track progress and evaluate results of community-driven initiatives, funders and nonprofits must start by asking what success looks like from the community’s perspective.
    by Elisabeth Makumbi, Aditi Sharma, Jasleen Kaur | 8 min read
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