After the Gate Opens: Released Prisoners and the Reintegration Gap in Odisha
The gate opens. He walks out. He has a small bag with the personal effects that were held for him, and he has a release document that certifies he has served his sentence. He has no job arranged. He may or may not have family waiting outside. He does not have a current ration car...
Farming in the Flood's Shadow: Small and Marginal Farmers of Odisha's Mahanadi Basin
He owns 1.2 acres in Jagatsinghpur's Balikuda block. He has farmed it his whole life, as his father did before him. In an average year, the paddy crop gives him enough for household food and a small surplus to sell. In a flood year — and there are flood years — the Mahanadi or th...
The Women Who Keep the Fish Moving: Fisherwomen of Coastal Odisha and the Economy Nobody Counts
In every fishing village along Odisha's 480-kilometre coastline, there is a division of labour so old and so deeply embedded in community life that it has become functionally invisible. The men go to sea. The women stay on shore and do everything else.
The First in the Family: First-Generation College Students from SC/ST Communities in Odisha
She is the first person in her family to sit in a college classroom. Her father farms two acres in Kandhamal; her mother never completed primary school. When she was admitted to a degree college in Phulbani after scoring 73 percent in her Class 12 board exams, the village gathere...
Criminalised by Law, Forgotten by Welfare: De-Notified Tribes in Odisha
In 1871, the British colonial government passed the Criminal Tribes Act — legislation that designated entire communities as "criminal tribes," meaning that every member of these communities, by birth, was presumed to be a criminal. The designated communities were required to regi...
The Person Nobody Programmes For: Caregivers of Persons with Severe Disabilities in Odisha
She wakes before 5 AM. She helps her son — 24 years old, with severe cerebral palsy — with his morning hygiene. She prepares his food, managing the texture and consistency that his swallowing difficulty requires. She attends to him throughout the morning, sometimes through the af...
The Long Road Back: Returnee Migrant Workers in Odisha and the Systems That Greet Them
Odisha sends more labour migrants to other states than almost any other state in India. The corridors are well-worn and well-known: Bolangir to Hyderabad for brick kilns; Ganjam to Surat for textiles; Koraput and Nabarangpur to Tamil Nadu for construction; Kalahandi and Bargarh t...
When the Street Becomes Home: Understanding Street-Connected Children in Odisha's Urban Centres
In the winter of 2020, as India's first COVID-19 lockdown froze movement across the country, a specific group of children became visible in a way they had never been before — not because their situation was new, but because everything around them had stopped. On the platforms of....
After the Diagnosis: Leprosy-Affected Persons and Their Families in Odisha's High-Burden Districts
On World Leprosy Day 1999, India announced that it had achieved elimination of leprosy as a public health problem — defined by the World Health Organization as a prevalence rate of less than one case per 10,000 population. The announcement was accurate at the national level, and....
The Invisible Workforce: Domestic Workers in Odisha and the Welfare Schemes They Cannot Access
She arrives before the household wakes. She sweeps, swabs, washes dishes, does laundry, sometimes cooks and sometimes minds the children. She leaves after the afternoon vessels are done, sometimes before dark, sometimes after. She will do this in two or three homes each day. She....
Between Childhood and Marriage: Adolescent Girls in Rural Odisha and the Schemes Meant to Reach Them
There is a narrow window in a girl's life — roughly between the ages of 11 and 18 — during which decisions are made that will shape the next five decades of her existence. Will she stay in school past Class 8? Will she be married before she turns 18? Will her body receive adequat...
The Tribal Artisan and Craftsperson's Market Stack — From Village Workshop to Premium Market
This note is for craft development NGOs, cluster development officers, KVIC district staff, OLM/Mission Shakti federation managers, corporate CSR teams sourcing craft products, and artisan community leaders across Odisha. It maps the complete market access stack available to Odis...
The SC Entrepreneur's Complete Stack — Every Scheme a Scheduled Caste Business Founder Can Access
This note is for social welfare NGOs, District Social Welfare Officers, SC development corporation staff, entrepreneurship coaches, and Scheduled Caste individuals in Odisha who are starting or scaling a business. It maps the complete stack of government schemes available specifi...
The Senior Citizen's Welfare Map — Every Scheme an Elderly Person Can Access in Odisha
This note is for healthcare NGOs, geriatric care workers, ASHA and AWW supervisors dealing with elderly populations, DSWO officers, Gram Panchayat members, and the families of elderly persons in Odisha. It maps every scheme available to a person aged 60 and above — and specifical...
The Forest Community's Rights and Livelihood Stack — What a Non-PVTG Tribal Forest Household Can Access
This note is for NGOs and field workers operating with Scheduled Tribe communities in Odisha's five forested tribal districts — Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Koraput, and Kandhamal — and in forested blocks of other tribal districts. It covers the specific stack of rights and....
The Construction Worker's Protection Stack — Every Scheme an Odisha Construction Worker Can Access
This note is for urban NGOs, trade unions, labour department officers, construction site contractors, and community workers who interact with building and construction workers in Odisha's cities and towns. It maps every scheme a registered construction worker is entitled to — and...
The Widow's Safety Net in Rural Odisha — Every Scheme a Widowed Woman Can Access
This note is for social workers, ANMs, ASHAs, gram panchayat leaders, DSWO officers, Mission Shakti CRPs, NGO field staff, and anyone who works with or encounters a widow in rural Odisha who is struggling economically. It maps every scheme a widowed woman is entitled to access —....
The Pregnant Woman's Complete Welfare Stack — Every Scheme from Conception to the Child's First Year
This note is for ANMs, ASHAs, AWW supervisors, CDPOs, health NGOs, and community health workers in Odisha. It maps every scheme a pregnant woman is entitled to access — from the moment she knows she is pregnant through her delivery and the first year of her child's life. It is wr...
The Person with Disability's Entitlement Map — Every Scheme a Divyangjan Can Access in Odisha
This note is for social workers, NGOs working in disability and inclusion, DSWO officers, AWW and ASHA workers, school staff, and any person with a disability or their family members in Odisha. It maps every scheme available to a person with a disability (PwD) — and starts with t...
The First-Time NGO Founder's Compliance Journey — Week by Week, Year by Year
This note is for anyone who has just registered or is planning to register an NGO — trust, society, or Section 8 Company — in Odisha or anywhere in India. It synthesises the compliance journey from the moment of registration through the first three years of operations into a sing...
The Coastal Fishermen's Stack — Every Scheme an Odisha Fisher Can Access
This note is for fisheries department officers, coastal NGOs, fishermen cooperative societies, beach-level officers, and community workers in Odisha's coastal districts — Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, and Ganjam. It maps every scheme a traditional or small-s...
The Urban Migrant's Stack — Every Scheme a Tribal Migrant Worker in Odisha's Cities Can Access
This note is for urban NGOs, city-based social workers, ULB officials, and corporate CSR managers working with migrant and informal sector communities in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur, Sambalpur, and other Odisha cities. It maps every government scheme that an Odisha....
A Tribal Child's Education Journey — Every Scheme from Birth to Employment
This note is for education NGOs, child welfare organisations, EMRS principal staff, CDPO and BEO officers, ITDA education officers, and CSR managers funding tribal education in Odisha. It maps every government scheme available to a Scheduled Tribe child from birth through to firs...
The Mission Shakti Enterprise Ladder — From SHG Member to Independent Entrepreneur
This note is for Mission Shakti and OLM field staff, CDPO and BMSC officers, NGO livelihoods programme managers, and corporate CSR teams funding women's enterprise in Odisha. It maps the complete, sequenced pathway from SHG membership through to independent enterprise — showing w...
The Paddy Farmer's Full Stack — Every Scheme an Odisha Small Farmer Can Access
This note is for agricultural NGOs, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) staff, Block Agriculture Officers, FPO facilitators, and community workers supporting small and marginal paddy farmers in Odisha. It maps every scheme that an Odisha paddy-growing household can legitimately access — a...
What a Dongria Kondh Family Can Access — The Complete Entitlement Stack
This note is for NGO practitioners, ITDA officers, social workers, community mobilisers, and researchers who work with Dongria Kondh communities in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of Odisha. It maps every government entitlement a Dongria Kondh household can legitimately access —...