The Republic of India is often a Republic of men. While men and women nationally enjoy the same rights, we are yet to solve many of the social failures from decades ago. Child marriage for women remains the norm in many parts of the country, many girls drop out early from education, and women's participation in the labour force is dropping drastically.

Understanding the challenges faced by adolescent women in India can help us unpack why Indian society and governments are failing half the population in so many ways. Shireen Jejebhoy, Manisha Gupte and Richa Patel join Pavan Srinath on the Pragati Podcast to help with just that.

The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.

This episode was made possible thanks to the Ab Meri Baari campaign run by the Dasra 10 to 19 Collaborative. The campaign aims to improve the lives of adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19, and empower them. As a part of the campaign, 300 girl champions were selected across Jharkhand and Rajasthan to conduct a social audit of all government services directed towards them. Dasra is a philanthropic organisation that facilitates social change by driving collaborative action between funders, development organisations and communities.

Shireen Jejeebhoy is a demographer and social scientist whose work has focused on young people's health and development. Manisha Gupte has been part of the women's and health rights movements in India since the mid-1970s, and co-founded MASUM -- a rural women's organisation in Maharashtra that has been active since 1987. Richa Patel is a communications specialist and a team lead at Dasra, who's also instrumental in making this and the previous episode possible.

Also check out: Pragati Podcast #122: The Adolescents of India: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/12/11/ep-122-the-adolescents-of-india

Report: The Situation of Adolescents in Jharkhand. https://www.dasra.org/resource/the-situation-of-adolescents-in-jharkhand

If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. To learn more about the campaign, visit abmeribaari.in.

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