India Development Review | Media platform for the development community

Why are teenage girls not going to school?

Evidence from the Teen Age Girls (TAG) survey, that spoke to 74,000 girls across India, throws light on the girls that leave education early, the barriers they face, and the way forward.

by Rachel Wilder | 5 min read

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Sign up for our free weekly newsletter, IDR Edit, featuring the best reads on development in India.

by Vijay Mahajan | 6 min read

Diversity & Inclusion

Working with Adivasi peoples, instead of for them

To better serve the needs of Adivasi communities, the social sector must first abandon its top down methods.

by Anamika Ashish, Varun Behani | 3 min read

Philanthropy & CSR

Making employee volunteering work

Reflect on these questions to strike a balance between what works for your company, your partners, and the communities you are engaging with.

by Gayatri Divecha | 5 min read

Ground Up

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

Water & Sanitation

Women's water woes

by Nandini Bhatia

Rajsamand district, Rajasthan

Diversity & Inclusion

New cultures of worship

by Iqra Khan

Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu

Livelihoods

"Main mazdoor hoon"

by Raghav Mehrotra

Udaipur district, Rajasthan

Agriculture

Freedom to graze

by Ashutosh Mishra

Godda district, Jharkhand

Perspectives

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Op-eds and commentary that hold a mirror up to civil society, reflect upon its evolution, and unpack key trends.

Perspectives

The 'science-policy-practitioner' divide

Due to silos between stakeholders, the people with the expertise on particular problems are often not the ones implementing solutions. We need to create a culture of learning across disciplines.

by Dr Veena Srinivasan | 4 min read

Perspectives

"An 'us versus them' approach won’t work"

How can the state address violence against women? How can you transform cultures and subcultures within an institution? IPS Officer Anju Gupta shares insights from three decades of working in the civil services.

by Ayesha Marfatia, Sneha Philip | 5 min read

Lego people contructing a building_nonprofit scale_pixabay

Perspectives

Is size the right metric to measure impact?

An organisation’s growth is easier to measure than the effect it has on the people it serves. If attention and energies are directed towards outcomes instead, size becomes secondary, and not worth worrying too much about.

by Arun Maira | 8 min read

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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.

“I realised that freeing labourers amounted to little more than an academic exercise...if one batch of children was released, there was always another one to take its place. So, how could one prevent it entirely?”

Shantha Sinha
9 min read

“You cannot go to a new destination with old roads.”

Muhammad Yunus
7 min read

“We cannot talk about class without recognising how it affects men and women differently in a gender unequal society. Similarly, we can’t get rid of patriarchy without getting rid of caste or race because all these structures are connected. ”

Kamla Bhasin
8 min read

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:

Education

Why are teenage girls not going to school?

Evidence from the Teen Age Girls (TAG) survey, that spoke to 74,000 girls across India, throws light on the girls that leave education early, the barriers they face, and the way forward.

by Rachel Wilder | 5 min read

Water & Sanitation

Water is getting scarce in India, but not for everyone

India's water problem is not about running out of water but about how to allocate a fixed resource. Without doing the latter equitably, India's water future remains bleak.

by Dr Veena Srinivasan | 3 min read

Livelihoods

The Union Budget is unraveling the handloom sector

With low budgetary allocations and a rising cost of production, the handloom industry—an essential part of India's economy—is struggling.

by Dr D Narasimha Reddy | 5 min read

Themes

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

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Diversity & Inclusion

Working with Adivasi peoples, instead of for them

To better serve the needs of Adivasi communities, the social sector must first abandon its top down methods.

by Anamika Ashish, Varun Behani | 3 min read

Philanthropy & CSR

Making employee volunteering work

Reflect on these questions to strike a balance between what works for your company, your partners, and the communities you are engaging with.

by Gayatri Divecha | 5 min read

Scale

The path to scale is broken

Why are alternate funding routes closed to nonprofits, and what can funders do to break the cycle of dependency?

by Dhananjay Vaidyanathan Rohini | 6 min read

Expertise

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

See all coverage by topic:

Fundraising & Communications

Should you do results-based financing?

With so many financial instruments out there, here's when and how to do results-based financing.

by Ellen Anderson, Kate Sturla | 5 min read

Leadership & Talent

Exit right: Nonprofit founders must plan their transition well

When it comes to succession planning, it is important for founders of nonprofits to do it smartly, while adequately empowering the CEO, if they need to.

by Aarti Madhusudan | 3 min read

field worker_Courtesy Charlotte Anderson

Leadership & Talent

Leadership in the field

How can nonprofits create environments that unlock the potential of their field workers?

by Suparna Diwakar | 5 min read

P Sainath on India's agrarian crisis

Kamla Bhasin on listening to the communities you work with

History of social action in India: From 1947 onwards

Photo of the month

Fast fashion

August 2019 | Worn for ceremonies and by elders of the Toda tribe, a shawl like this takes more than three months to complete. ‘Slow fashion’—where the experience and effort that goes into making a garment is recognised and respected, is quickly losing out to fast fashion. Photo: Native Picture

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Why are teenage girls not going to school?

Our solutions for education aren't working. Here's why.

How to work with boys to reduce violence against women

Research, for whom?

No-Detention: Why did a popular policy get scrapped?

P Sainath: The water crisis is not caused by drought

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Latest

Nonprofits versus social enterprises

Water is getting scarce in India, but not for everyone

Democracy and Resistance: Two sides of a coin

Working with Adivasi peoples, instead of for them

Making employee volunteering work

Ground Up

Women's water woes

New cultures of worship

"Main mazdoor hoon"

Freedom to graze

Perspectives

The 'science-policy-practitioner' divide

"An 'us versus them' approach won’t work"

Is size the right metric to measure impact?

IDR Interviews

Sectors

Why are teenage girls not going to school?

Water is getting scarce in India, but not for everyone

The Union Budget is unraveling the handloom sector

Themes

Working with Adivasi peoples, instead of for them

Making employee volunteering work

The path to scale is broken

Expertise

Should you do results-based financing?

Exit right: Nonprofit founders must plan their transition well

Leadership in the field

Videos

P Sainath on India's agrarian crisis

Why do you read IDR?

Kamla Bhasin on listening to the communities you work with

History of social action in India: From 1947 onwards

Dr Fernandez on urban health

Kamla Bhasin on feminism

Photo of the month

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Write for us

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