For much of the development sector’s history, progress has been understood through the expansion of access. The construction of schools and health facilities, expansion of electricity and water supply, increased enrolment, greater financial inclusion and wider coverage of social protection programmes have all been important markers of development. These achievements matter because exclusion from basic…
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, that was placed in Parliament in March 2026 has once again brought the debate on the regulation of foreign-funded organisations in India back into focus. While there is no doubt about the need to increase transparency and accountability of such organisations, the challenge before policymakers is one of…
India’s CSR sector recognizes that beneficiary numbers don’t reflect real impact, yet reporting systems still prioritize headcounts over actual outcomes. This creates a growing gap between rising CSR spending and genuine accountability on the ground. India CSR ran an interview with R. Pavithra Kumar, CEO of JSW Foundation, back in April. It hit a lot…
Women’s empowerment is not just about access but about agency, control, and decision-making. Across rural and urban India, true empowerment remains constrained by deeply rooted structural and social barriers. What if women’s empowerment is not about lifting women up rather about examining what has been holding them down? Who is being empowered? How? Under what…
