The WorkWise Pod

"Earlier they were beneficiaries. Now they are shareholders."

In this episode of Work Wise Pod, Sujatha Rao, Deepak Menon, and Mohit Dave speak with Rajendra Joshi (Founder, Saath), Chinmay Desai, and Pooja Singh about Saath’s shift from beneficiary-led development to member-owned economic democracy. Saath began 36 years ago in Ahmedabad’s informal settlements with a simple belief: “Ability is equal. Opportunity is not.” With donor support, Saath ran Urban Resource Centers — one-stop community spaces that mapped households, facilitated access to education, government schemes, and nurtured women’s and youth leadership. But the nagging question “What happens if the funding stops?” resulted in the creation of a Multipurpose Cooperative - Saath Jan Vikas Multipurpose Cooperative . Not only was this new model more resilient, but the power shift was palpable. As Pooja puts it, “Earlier they were beneficiaries. Now they are shareholders.” Members ask, “When will this happen?” They expect timelines. They hold the system accountable. Rajendra argues that NGOs must reinvent themselves — becoming “facilitators between markets and communities,” not just service providers. This episode explores Saath's reinvention. This conversation is in both English and Hindi.

Hidden in Plain Sight: The Global Cooperative Movement

The cooperative movement is one of the largest economic and social movements in the world; yet it remains poorly understood and rarely spoken about. Globally, cooperatives involve over a billion members, millions of enterprises and provide livelihoods for around 10% of the world’s working population. In this episode, we speak with Rebecca Harvey, Executive Editor of Co-op News, about how cooperatives function across countries, sectors, and social contexts. And why such a vast movement continues to remain “hidden in plain sight”. Drawing on global examples, the conversation spans cooperatives in retail, agriculture, healthcare, housing, education, and technology, with particular attention to women’s work and leadership, youth participation, and platform cooperatives. We also speak about the role of cooperatives in reshaping the world of work marked by inequality, unpaid care, and exhausted workers. Rebecca is the 15th editor of Coop-News’ 151 year history, and only the second woman to hold the post.

The past, present and future of Cooperatives

This is the first episode of our new series' Social and Solidarity Economy'. The Social and Solidarity Economy explores the world of cooperatives, collectives, platform workers, unions, and other democratic enterprises that are rooted in collaboration, equity and shared prosperity. Cooperatives are often dismissed as small, old-fashioned, or inefficient, but what if some of the world’s biggest and most resilient businesses weren’t driven by shareholders—but by members? In our first episode, Balu Iyer, the Regional Director for Asia–Pacific at the International Cooperative Alliance breaks down the cooperative model: where it came from, how it works, and why over a billion people around the world are part of it. Drawing on Indian examples such as Amul, IFFCO, SEWA, and ULCCS, the conversation explores how cooperatives combine professionalism with participation, values with viability, and democracy with business—offering a powerful alternative to extractive economic models and unfair work places.

Meena's Story: Life behind & beyond bars

Prisons@Work is a series of 6 episodes that step into Indian Society’s most hidden workplaces -the Indian Prison System. Through conversations with prison reformers and ex-convicts we explore life in prison, after prison, and unearth the complex web of justice, caste, gender, stigma and survival. We also look at possible reforms and restorative practices that could redefine the justice system. This is the last of the three episodes where we examine the lived realities of incarceration through first-person narratives from three formerly imprisoned individuals. Their stories offer a direct, unfiltered look at daily life in prison, how they navigated institutional life, power structures, and their long arc of rebuilding life afterward. In this episode, we meet Meena, whose sudden incarceration left her feeling invisible, distressed and voiceless. But with quiet encouragement from her family, jail staff and access to mentoring, Meena found the courage to step out of her shell and rebuild her life slowly. All names and identifying details have been changed to protect the speakers’ privacy. This episode is in Hindi.

Aman's Story: Life behind & beyond bars

Prisons@Work is a series of 6 episodes that step into Indian Society’s most hidden workplaces -the Indian Prison System. Through conversations with prison reformers and ex-convicts we explore life in prison, after prison, and unearth the complex web of justice, caste, gender, stigma and survival. We also look at possible reforms and restorative practices that could redefine the justice system. This is the second of the three episodes where we examine the lived realities of incarceration through first-person narratives from three formerly imprisoned individuals. Their stories offer a direct, unfiltered look at daily life in prison, how they navigated institutional life, power structures, and their long arc of rebuilding life afterward. In this episode we meet Aman, a former inmate of Tihar Jail, whose years inside prison became an unexpected journey of survival, self-discovery and skill building. Through his candid account, we explore the informal networks of support and resilience within Tihar’s jails, and we reflect on the emotional labour of rebuilding identity in a system designed to erase it. All names and identifying details have been changed to protect the speakers’ privacy. This episode is in Hindi.