The Women Who Make Welfare Work 

Meet the women whose labour keeps some of India’s largest government schemes running.  India has over 1.4 million anganwadi centres providing early childhood care, education and nutrition for young children.  Under the government’s mid-day meal scheme (PM Poshan), 118 million children in government schools get one hot cooked meal on every school day.  In Bihar, JEEViKA, the state’s rural livelihoods programme, has reached 14 million rural households through a network of 1.1 million women’s self-help groups, making it one of the largest organised women’s networks in the country. What keeps these schemes running are women like Firdaus, an anganwadi helper; Savita, a mid-day meal cook; and Neelam, a bookkeeper (jeevika didi). The communities they work in know them by first