NEW DELHI, Sept. 21 -- In January 2020, a Bengaluru based NGO conducted a baseline survey among the migrant workers who were mainly from Bihar, UP and Odisha. Out of the 100 men interviewed, 20 men did not know to write their names. They also could not read any language. Out of 100 women interviewed, 95 women did not know to read and write. They were habituated with the practice of 'thumb impression'. Only 5 women could write their names and read their mother tongue. The natural consequence was the 'exploitation' by the agents.
Between 2016-2018 I had visited several women SHGs in AP, Telangana and MP. They were enrolled for an economic development project. In the initial stage of the project we found that more than 70 percent could not re...