Livelihoods

Rural India is home of the original gig-economy worker. Enterprising villagers hop from tilling fields to tending shops, to door-to-door selling each day. Read the latest trends in micro-enterprises, rural start-ups and the shifting livelihoods of India’s villagers.

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Why migrant labourers keep flocking to Kashmir

Undeterred by threats to their security, hundreds of migrant labourers from different states flock to Kashmir every spring to earn their livelihood.

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New print on the block

You know about Rajasthan’s Sanganeri and Bagru block prints, admire their imperfections and perhaps have a wardrobe full of them. But have you seen Jhag – the newest print in the collections of some of the reputed Indian handloom brands?

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Mizoram farmers caught in ‘rat trap’

Ahead of a new bamboo flowering cycle, rats are attacking fields in Mizoram, destroying crops in several acres as farmers and officials struggle to contain the problem.

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‘Dignity is closely linked to economic condition’

About 95 percent of the workforce in India is engaged in the informal sector, and we cannot leave them outside of our imagination, says Subhash Bhatnagar of Nirmana, an organisation that seeks to empower unorganised sector workers.

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Migrants live their Mumbai dream at Sassoon Docks

Thousands from across India's rural landscape arrive and work at Mumbai’s oldest wet dock, which is one of the nation’s biggest exporters of sea fish.

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Kashmir’s youngsters take to mushroom farming

With help from the government, thousands of youths turn to mushroom cultivation to earn a livelihood.

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Music band rings in new dawn for ex-prisoners

Naya Savera is a unique band comprising former inmates of Udaipur Central Jail out to shrug off their past for redeeming themselves.

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Sangli’s grape farmers are ‘raisin’ the bar

Farmers harness the suitable climate and grow certain varieties of grapes that can be dried into raisins, elevating Sangli district as India’s raisin hub.

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How women’s market sustains indigenous food system

The Tangkhul community of Ukhrul in Manipur relies heavily on agriculture, besides foraging. Women play an important role in it. Ava Market is the ‘women only’ market in town where herbs, plants and wild edibles are sold daily.