This article has been sponsored by Development Alternatives.

“I want to expand my business and create more jobs for people.”

These words come from Anita Mourya, a self-taught artisan from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. Forced to return to her village during the COVID-19 pandemic, she found herself surrounded by uncertainty. With little more than a needle, thread, and her determination, Anita began procuring sarees and bedspreads, embellishing them with intricate embroidery and hand-stitched stones — a laborious process done entirely by hand.

“I would stitch each stone manually, often working through power cuts under candlelight. The work was painstaking and limited my capacity to grow,” she recalls.

Anita’s story is not unique. Across rural India, countless women and young people are filled with ambition but lack the resources and opportunities to turn it into something lasting.

India is at a critical juncture. With 67% of its population in the working-age group, the country is preparing for more than 100 million young people to enter the workforce by 2030. The demand for jobs is enormous, but the labour market is already struggling to meet it.

This is even more evident in rural areas, where barriers like caste, gender, and economic inequality restrict access to formal jobs. For many women, the challenge goes beyond finding work. It’s about being allowed to work at all. In rural India, where traditions run deep, stepping outside the home to earn a living often feels like breaking the rules. The growing crisis demands more than temporary fixes — it needs systemic solutions that empower people to create their own opportunities.

Anita’s life changed when she heard about a programme that promised something different: the chance not just to find work but to build something of her own.

In 2016, a Delhi-based social enterprise, ‘Development Alternatives’, launched the ‘Inclusive Entrepreneurship’ programme with one big idea — turning job seekers into job creators. Instead of focusing solely on providing jobs, the programme set out to build entrepreneurial ecosystems — support systems that help people start and grow their own businesses. It’s a vision aimed at underserved communities, particularly women and youth and seeks to create long-term economic growth while promoting social inclusion.

A unique approach rooted in social innovation

“We often reduce........

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