Child Labour Movement & even beyond Indian history is reminiscent of role played by women in grassroots social, environmental movements.

Women as the backbone of grassroots Movement:

1. Environmental movements - Chipko (1970s) where rural women protected against felling of forests. Such act would've had direct impact on their survival concerns.

2. Rights based movements - Meira Paibi's of Manipur formed to secure human rights against alleged AFSPA violations.

3. Dalit and tribal movements - women have championed land rights, anti-liquor campaigns.

4. National networks of women - eg. SHGs (Kudumbashree Kerala), mahila parishadā, allow rapid mobilisation.

5. Moral authority due to role as caregivers & nurturers lends them credibility.

Exclusion from decision making:

1. Patriarchal nature of society - limits perception of women as legitimate decision makers & forces them into secondary roles. eg. early social reform movements, even when aimed at women's emancipation were led by men.

2. Symbolic participation - even though 1.4 million women are elected to panchayats, the phenomena of 'sarpanch pati' reigns on decision malig at local levels.

3. Women led movements lack funding or NGO support.

4. Dual burden - shackles public participation, relegating them to voluntary actions as they are remain responsible for household.

Way forward:

Limits contribution to public issues.

1. Leadership training & mentoring for women at grassroots level.

2. Ensure gender dossier finch & visibility for women led initiatives.

3. Recognition of unpaid care work would bolster their position.

1. Proliferation of co led friendly content (eg. parenting videos, toys education) create demand for fictitious performers.

2. Corporate promote kidtubers to 'digitize' materialism.

3. Sub conscious participation - may begin as key expression siphoning into influencer gigs without conscious division.

4. Rise of affordable smartphones, data plans has made content creation accessible beyond urban areas.

Social media apps such as X (formally Twitter), Instagram has foreworn transformed communication, social expression & self identity. However, it is seen as a 'double-edged sword'.

Positive impact of social media on Indian society:

1. Democratisation of information and public space - social media allows for greater participation in public concerns, fact checking information & appeals truth to power.

2. Gives voice to marginalized - several of Dalit narratives, campaigns such as #MeToo & the 4B movement (South Korea) gives marginalised sections a platform.

3. Role in disaster & crisis response - eg. use of social media during covid-19 for hospital inquiries, oxygen needs donations for charity work to help duty floods & earthquakes.

4. Local enterprises & handicrafts (Vocal for local) - social media has driven up sales of kinadi apparel, jewellery & handicrafts, sustaining local livelihoods.

5. Cultural expression - art, music, creative exploration.

6. Avenue for key expression - eg. transparency & LGBTQIA+ community's use of social media has helped sensitise greater society.

Negative impacts of social media:

1. Anonymity offered by digital platforms has led to increased instances of bullying, sexual harassment, and has created unsafe spaces for children.

2. Amplification of regional & communal divides eg. Muzaffarpur riots & lynch prompted by isholerit forwards.

3. Misinformation & fake news takes a life of its own on the internet eg. vaccine hesitancy rhetoric during covid.

4. Youth and increasing instances of anti-state ideologies propagated via social media platforms.

5. Mental health crisis & body image anxiety among teenagers.

Way forward:

1. Fact checking infrastructure.

2. Digital literacy campaigns (included as part of NEP 2020).

3. Enabling inclusive access to internet, bypassing digital divide.

Social media is both a mirror & megaphone, a responsible & ethical digital culture is necessary to harness its potential. An important step to ensure the same is to enhance responsibility of platform while ensuring transparency.