Instructions:

• There are two cases mentioned in the document. You need to solve one of
these cases only.
• Please mention the title of the slide similar to the title of the case you have
selected.
• The solution has to be uploaded on the D2C as PowerPoint Presentation of
one slide (Excluding cover slide)
• All the best!

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 Case-1: Finding economic opportunities for
Women in Urban Slums
Urbanisation spells both hope and despair to the lower class, an unskilled Indian woman. For
many women, migration to the mega-cities seems like the best way to earn some more money
to be able to save, create a less busy life and to provide their families with a more certain future.
The desire to move is great, so great that in rural areas it is considered a matter of pride to be
married off to someone who works in the informal sector of any of the big cities or to send a
daughter off to work as domestic help in one of the middle-class households. For some, it is an
outlet to escape an abusive husband or lack of opportunities for paid work in the villages.
As popular culture propaganda works to present cities as images of economic prosperity,
women from rural areas move with the hope of gaining some autonomy, and independent
possession of some asset for the future. What they meet is limited economic opportunities,
bound by work in the informal sector.

Meet the women in India’s urban slums

Based in South Kolkata, Papiya is a classic example of a rural woman moving to a mega-city
after marriage. In fact, her mother also moved with her to the city, and they both take on the
responsibility of earning for the house while Papiya’s husband is a drunk who occasionally
works as a contractual driver for various people. After her own housework is done, she has to
go to work at 5 different houses to earn a basic income to pay their rent & afford food and clean
water.

Then there are women like Kamona. She had moved to New Delhi with her three children to
give them a better future and escape from the clutches of her drunk and abusive husband.

These are the women who populate the habitations of the urban poor, the ones who flock to the
low cost, overcrowded slums. Barely 21% of the urban female labour force is economically
active. They are predominantly employed as domestic help / engage in home-based work.

What are the key characteristics of economically active poor women?

• Poor women in slums are more often than not, first-generation migrants who moved to
the city with their husbands, driven by financial needs and aspirations.
• Women have generally been educated up to middle school, that too in their source
villages. None have got the opportunity or taken the initiative to continue their
education in the city.
• A majority of the studied women started engaging in economic activities only after
migrating to the city. Formally acquired vocational skills are rare; informal networks
help them to access work opportunities in the informal sector and/or of an informal
kind; and many end up doing low paying and exploitative Home Based Work or Colony

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 Based Work (HBW/CBW - as part of informal work-groups) and hence, are Casual
Labour. Some also toil as Women Domestic Workers (WDW) in residential areas and
kothis within 10 km of their slum.
• Women are engaged in economic activities largely due to the financial duress faced by
their families. They consider their earnings as essential, even though supplementary to
their spouses’; however, in the same vein, they confess that their current work is giving
them neither sufficient returns nor work satisfaction.
• Most women have the streedhan jewellery and tools of the trade (like khurpis, scissors,
sewing materials, etc.) as their only assets.
• Few have any cash savings, spending all they earn (investing in their children’s
education, food and cooking fuel) and taking informal loans from friends, employers
and neighbours whenever there is a cash deficit or emergency cash requirement.
• Women in Urban Villages and some Unauthorised Colonies also rear poultry and small
ruminants they call their own as they can sell them at their own will. A key asset of
most women in the Impact Group is a mobile phone which they use to remain in touch
with other women in their slum or workgroup, with their family members and to call
the Police for help when they are being assaulted by their husbands.
• Women generally harbour one or more of these three aspirations: (i) good education
and career of their children; (ii) well-being of their spouses; and/or (iii) a house of their
own in the city. They rarely aspire or wish for anything concerning their well-being or
advancement.

Hear the experiences of women engaged in home-based work

“I am residing in Ambojwadi, Malad West, for 18 years, during my days of hardships

this work has helped me survive bad days of life. Being a single parent to my 14
children, every day is a new challenge to sustain and survive. Every day I contribute
my 4 hours to this work. We are paid as per the piece-rate which is Rs 3.50 per set of
hair clips and imitation jewellery made”, said Mrs. Khan (name changed). Following
neighbours’ footsteps, Mrs. Khan started working from home. The sub-contractor
provides the raw materials to the Khan family. Raw materials include jewellery set,
jewellery stones, glue stick, etc. The set is made and is then sold in the famous Natraj
market of Malad. Patience and concentration are the most important factors required
while working on imitation jewellery. Mrs. Khan said, “There are bruises on the hands
of my daughter-in-law, we all suffer from irritation and pain in the eyes, sometimes we
feel giddy too if we sit to work for long hours”.

More about Annapurna Movement & what we do

Annapurna Movement is a civil society organisation based in Mumbai. We started work during
the nation-wide lockdown and have worked relentlessly to provide food relief material, masks
& sanitary pads to at-risk communities across Mumbai. Over the last six months, we’ve
distributed 6,00,000+ cooked meals, 20,000+ ration kits, 50,000+ masks & sanitary pads. As
lockdown is lifted & economic activity resumes, we can see that men are finding their jobs
back. However, innumerable women suddenly left without any savings and strained due to the

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changing economic scenario are left out of work. More importantly, not all of the women can
go for daily 9-5 jobs (due to family constraints & something as simple as needing to fill water
twice a day). Hence they prefer home-based work opportunities. Capitalising on the need to
earn supplementary income for the family, contractors have consistently exploited the network
of poor urban women. We want to change that. We want to create meaningful home-based
work opportunities for women in urban slums in the next 6-12 months. Women in our
communities are fairly representative across caste, creed, age & skillsets (tailoring, imitation
metalwork, embroidery, packaged food, etc.)

Can you help us improve access to economic opportunities for women

in urban slums?

1. List the range of interventions available to Annapurna Movement

2. Specifically, identify the type of industries / home-based work interventions we can
leverage
3. Evaluate all the available alternatives based on economic returns, feasibility & costs.
4. More specifically, analyse how we can leverage existing technology to improve
working environments, the output created and generate better sales
5. Develop a meaningful business plan & go-to-market strategy for the industry/theme of
home-based work which will create the largest impact.
6. Identify the stakeholders (if any) and come up with a strategy that combines their
efforts.

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Exhibits:

Urban Employed (Female) by Industry Group and Employment Type (Percentage

distribution) for years 2011-2012 and 2004-2005
Female

Industry Group Formal Informal Total

2011-2012
Agriculture 0.1 10.8 10.9

Manufacturing 1.7 26.8 28.4

Home-Based 8.9 72 68.3

Construction 0.1 3.9 4

Trade 0.4 10 10.4

Street Vending 0 22.6 21.7

Non-Trade Services 15.5 30.2 45.6

Transport 3.4 2 2.5

Domestic Workers 0 39 25.8

Waste pickers 0 6 4

Total Urban Employed 18.1 81.9 100

2004-2005
Agriculture 0.5 17.5 18.1

Manufacturing 1.9 25.5 27.4

Home-Based 6.7 70.3 65.9

Construction 0 3.8 3.9

Trade 0.2 9.8 9.9

Street Vending 0 57.4 56.4

Non-Trade Services 12.7 27.6 40.3

Transport 5.1 2.7 3.4

Domestic Workers 0.2 39 26.8

Waste Pickers 0 0.5 0.4

Total Urban Employed 15.5 84.5 100

Source: WIEGO Working Paper No 7

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Education profile of labour-force in India in 15-59 years age bracket

Vocational training being received by persons in the age group 15-59 Years (in %) in
India (Rural + Urban)

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 Case-2 : Ensuring Continued Education for Children From
Disadvantaged Communities Despite School Closure

Ramesh and Sukka are from Sadarpal Village, Sukma, Chhattisgarh. They study in 3rd grade
and attended school together. But the school in their village has closed due to the Covid-19
pandemic, and their learning came to a standstill. However, thanks to Hadma Makkam, a
volunteer in the village, the boys have access to ‘Karona - Thodi Masti, Thodi Padhai’,
Pratham’s remote learning initiative.

As a part of the initiative, the kid’s parents receive regular messages through WhatsApp and
SMS about various fun-filled activities. These activities are designed to keep students engaged
and help them continue with their education. Hadma monitors these activities and ensures that
children complete them in time. He helped the boys in making a dump truck by following the
instructions in the video which they received via WhatsApp. Playing with the dump truck has
become their favourite playtime activity.

There are millions of children like Ramesh and Sukka in rural and remote areas across India
who are eager to learn. There are many volunteers like Hadma who ensure that children in their
communities are learning. However, Pratham faces varied challenges while implementing the
initiative across the various parts of the country.

The Problem: Discontinuity in education due to school closure

While Covid-19 caused disruptions in most of the sectors across the globe, education was one
of the most acutely affected areas. According to UNESCO, at the beginning of April 2020,
schools were closed across 194 countries, and it impacted 1.6 billion learners. Even though
schools have started re-opening in some countries, 1.1 billion learners across the world are still
affected.

India is no exception to this crisis, and as we write this document, schools continue to remain
shut, affecting millions of children across every state. An extension of this problem is the
certainty of loss in lifelong learning for an entire generation of students. A plethora of online
educational platforms has emerged to provide learning opportunities in the absence of school.
But they reach only a minuscule student population, primarily living in urban regions and
belonging to economically well-off families. The children belonging to the vulnerable and
disadvantaged groups remain entirely disconnected from these virtual or digital learning
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initiatives. As a result, they are left with no options to continue learning until the schools re-
open.

India’s learning crisis could further aggravate against the backdrop of poor learning levels of
children, as pointed out every year by Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER).
As per ASER released every year, a large number of children are more than two grades behind
in foundational skills (reading and arithmetic) than they are expected to acquire in the first
three years of primary school. In 2018, 73 per cent of children in Class 3 and 50 per cent
children in Class 5 were unable to read a Class 2 level text.

Given educational loss caused by the closure of schools, especially for children belonging to
disadvantaged groups, it is essential to ensure continued learning.

Pratham’s Approach

Pratham was started in 1995, and it is presently one of the largest NGOs in the country. It
focuses on developing low-cost, high-quality, and replicable interventions to address the gaps
in the educational system. It works directly with the youth and children as well as collaborates
with governmental systems to reach millions every year. Presently it operates in 22 states and
Union Territories of India and has impacted around 16.5 million children and youth through its
various initiatives.

The pandemic and the resulting school closure presented a new challenge for Pratham to
educate children. In response, Pratham began its remote learning initiative, named ‘Karona -
Thodi Masti, Thodi Padhai’. Pratham is currently reaching out to 12,000+ communities across
the country. A glimpse of this remote learning activity could be seen here.

The pandemic has imposed restrictions on travel. Moreover, an actual visit to a village is not
advisable due to safety reasons. Pratham rolled out ‘Karona, Thodi Masti, Thodi Padhai’, as a
part of the new strategy developed to reach out to the communities that it has been working
with previously. As directly connecting with communities is not possible, Pratham has begun
training of volunteers from these communities to sustain and monitor the progress of the
initiative. Here is a glimpse of how these volunteers are ensuring continuity in children’s
learning in different states.

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The Operations of ‘Karona - Thodi Masti, Thodi Padhai’ Initiative
Pratham identifies volunteers in a village. Each volunteer is assigned the responsibility of eight
to ten children, who are in the grade group of 4 to 6. These volunteers are trained via Zoom
calls, WhatsApp calls or a conference call, based on the availability of smartphones and internet
connection. These volunteers then execute learning camps with their respective group of
children. Click here to know more about Pratham’s learning camps.
These volunteers are the key stakeholders, who keep in touch with the parents and ensure the
timely completion of activities by the children. These volunteers assess the change in the
learning level of children at the end of the learning camp and share the statistics with Pratham.
These statistics help Pratham in modifying the structure of assigned activities to achieve better
results.

Challenges Faced by Pratham

Pratham faces several challenges while implementing the initiative. On the technological front,
the key limitations are the lack of access to smartphones, poor internet connectivity. Economic
factors also play a part. Loss of income due to Covid-19 has forced many families to move
away from a smartphone to a keypad phone, as they cannot afford to refill the internet. This
means that they are moving away from technological devices that are necessary for providing
the necessary information to their kids.
On the other hand, Pratham faces several problems regarding volunteers. Unavailability of
volunteers in every hamlet is one immediate limitation. Some volunteers also face difficulty in
adjusting to Zoom calls or WhatsApp calls. In addition to these, attrition of these volunteers is
another concern.

Geography Specific Challenges: Assam and Uttarakhand

While many problems faced by Pratham are common across the country, every state presents
a diverse picture due to its unique geography and socio-economic factors. Below we discuss
the issues pertaining to two states, Assam and Uttarakhand, to give a glimpse of challenges
across geographies.

1. Assam
Assam is one of the most diverse states in India. Pratham is working with 330 communities in
11 blocks across ten districts in the state. The problems faced while implementing the
initiative are as follows:

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● Lack of Smartphone Penetration
● Phones are usually with the head of the family, usually the father, who is out during the day
for work. As a result, kids have access only for a short time duration.
● The text messages have to be short – 144 characters, otherwise it is sent as two messages.
The factors that have worked in favour of the initiative are as follows:
● Pratham’s focus was on mothers as opposed to youth, and the attrition in mothers is less.
● Weekly package of messages was sent to volunteers for volunteer-led classes.
● Communities have been mapped in terms of smartphone penetration.
● Engagement of renowned community members has boosted the success rate of the
initiative.
A proposed plan for Assam, which attempts to explore this initiative and the challenges there
is shown in Exhibits.

2. Uttarakhand
The problems faced while working in Uttarakhand are as follows:
• Outmigration and ‘Ghost Villages’
Many remote villages in the hills of Uttarakhand lack basic amenities like roadways, health
centres and schools. The lack of employment opportunities leads to massive outmigration from
the state, resulting in ghost villages.
Pratham works closely with volunteers who are community members, to reach out to children
and families. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find volunteers due to this huge
outmigration. The community-level volunteers are the anchors of the work, and their absence
creates gaps in Pratham’s vision of ensuring every children’s proper education. Pratham also
needs to ensure the retention of the current cadre of volunteers.

• Community Awareness and Engagement

Pratham works in a village for three consecutive years as part of the “Hamara Gaon”
programme. The idea of the programme is to equip the community to take ownership of the
learning of children in the village. Because as they say - it takes a village to raise a child!
However, there is a risk of the endeavour losing steam once Pratham exits from the village.
Ensuring that after the programme is over, the community continues being at the helm of
ensuring every child in the village learns well, is of prime importance.

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• Lack of Connectivity
While remote learning has come to rescue in the time of school closures, it is still not a reliable
source considering the irregular network connectivity across the hilly state. Moreover, lack of
access to devices, especially smartphones for every child creates learning gaps.

Problem Statement

1. What strategies can Pratham implement to ensure retention of the current cadre of
volunteers? What kind of incentives can Pratham design to prevent the drop-out of
volunteers? Additionally, suggest some methods and metrics which can be leveraged by
Pratham to keep track of volunteer engagement on a continuous basis and intervention steps
to take in case of the possibility of attrition of a volunteer.
2. Lack of smartphones and poor internet connectivity is a big hurdle for continuing student
education. Could Pratham explore some low-cost yet easy to implement and scalable
solutions to solve this problem? Outline the likely challenges which can be faced during
the implementation. Bonus points, if you can also explore financial feasibility and
approximate funding sources, which will complement the Pratham’s budget, to support this
program.
3. Provide measures to make children ready for school (when they re-open) and come up with
ways to alleviate the learning loss in them due to prolonged school closure.
4. Suggest methods to ensure that community engagement continues in children’s learning.

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Exhibit 1

Activity Centres

Exhibit 2 – Home Activities

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Exhibit 3 – Mohalla Activities

▪ To be conducted through anchor volunteers in hamlets across 330 villages

▪ Camps for 24-30 days
▪ Weekly package to be disseminated to volunteers with instructions
▪ Activities and homework to be linked to daily SMS
▪ Baseline and Endline assessment to be undertaken

MOHALLA CLASSES WITH GRADES 3-5

• To be conducted hamlet-wise by creating children ‘s groups with a group

leader for every group.

• Package to be provided to children every 7-10 days (package to include

various subjects)

• Facilitation from volunteers

MOHALLA GROUP WORK WITH GRADES 6-8

Exhibit 4 – Village Level Activities

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