Building a Strong Community: Case Study of Mubarakpur, Patna

In informal settlements, service provisioning is either limited or bypassed. Lacking awareness of rights, basic infrastructure services, and procedures to seek these reduce one’s agency as a citizen. Existing norms and standards, as well as domestic roles within households, mean that women bear a greater brunt. The WOW project works with these women and communities in Patna and Delhi. ZAA aims to improve the working conditions of women to enhance their economic empowerment and increase women’s collective and individual agency in decision making and use of assets. In Mubarakpur, Patna, lack of drainage and concrete roads created adverse conditions for working women; streets were often waterlogged creating difficulties in movement. This case study narrates a story of positive change. Earlier, women would ask with a sense of despair, ‘what change will come?’, but now they have emerged confident and decisive. For women in Mubarakpur, collectivisation has helped garner positive results, resulting in an empowered community eager to bring improvements in their area.