It’s over 40 degrees on a summer’s day in Kolhua, a rural area outside Kushinagar in Northern India. Sudha* is working the dry earth with a hoe as part of a group of other Musahar women, fortifying the village’s walking tracks between fields.

Sudha is being paid for her daily labour through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. The scheme aims to guarantee the right to work to all Indians, however in practice there are many barriers to accessing the scheme, and many marginalised groups, particularly those from lower caste groups like the Musahar, often miss out.

As part of a social protection program run by Opportunity’s local partner in India, community workers support people in rural villages with information on how to access social protection schemes run by the government.

This year Sudha’s village has a community worker, called a Vikas Mitra, who visited her home and told her about various government schemes that Sudha is eligible for. Her Vikas Mitra worked closely with the local government official to secure work for Sudha and other local women.

^{Sudha* works as a labourer in northern India}

Sudha is the head of her household and the money she earns from work supports her elderly mother. There aren’t many job opportunities around, particularly during slow times for agriculture, and particularly for women.

Taking a break from the work, she shows the palms of her hands, callused from labour.

Jennifer Jones, Program Coordinator at Opportunity asked Sudha, “What is your dream for your future?” “Any work I can have, is my dream,” she replied. Her friend, working the fields with her, owns a cow and dreams of owning a goat one day. “Even if I had an additional livelihood,” Sudha says, “I would still do this work. It is our right.”

*name changed for privacy