YWLPPF Young Women Leaders in Public Policy Fellowship- Cohort 3.0 | Theme: Women Leading Change Across Sectors and Scales | An Online National Monsoon & Autumn School Program | A Three-Month Online Immersive Introductory Leadership Certificate Training Fellowship Program | July-September 2025 |…
Through this blog, I shared my insights from creative ethnographic research, which documents the everyday leadership of Gadiya Lohar women in Bareilly. Traditionally nomadic blacksmiths, the Gadiya Lohars are now settled in roadside clusters, living precarious lives with little access to clean water, sanitation, housing, or education.
We often say numbers don’t lie — but the truth they tell depends on where, and how, we look.
In my recent study, “Quantitative Assessment of Women’s Representation and Influence in Maharashtra’s Governance and Public Policy (2005–2025),” I set out to do exactly that: measure how visible and influential women are in the state’s decision-making spaces.
When I began my research on “Conscious Leadership for Global Impact and Growth: Insights from Women-Led Institution – Brahma Kumaris”, I knew I was stepping into a living laboratory of leadership—one that did not just exist in books or boardrooms, but in meditation rooms, service centers, and quiet moments of personal transformation.
Theoretical frameworks that have shaped public policy and governance discourse have historically been developed through a largely patriarchal lens. In the Indian context, young women, especially from marginalized castes, religions, or socio-economic backgrounds, are increasingly encouraged to engage in leadership and policy-making roles.
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are voluntary associations that aim to improve the economic conditions of rural communities. Participants from various rural/local communities, including women, are involved in these groups, restricted to twenty participants by legal frameworks (Jose, 2023). They are associated with rural banks and can exist with or without registration (Gupta, 2020).
The public health narrative on mental health care access in India revolves around infrastructure, implementation challenges, cultural stigma and resources. This record misses the capture of a deeper issue, the gendered influence on mental health care access.