Deep-dive analysis from India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21 , Telangana benchmarked against All-India averages across key indicators across employment, financial agency, household participation, and experiences of violence. Employment and Earnings Telangana shows significantly higher female workforce participation compared to the national average: Workforce Participation: 53.3% of currently married women (age 15-49) were employed in the 12 months preceding the survey, which is notably higher than the national average of 31.9% . For men, the employment rate was 97.0% . Cash Compensation: Among those employed, 92.8% of women and 94.2% of men reported earning cash . Earnings Relative to Spouses: 38.5% of women reported earning about the same as or more than their husbands . Control Over Earnings and Finances Decision-Making on Earnings: 75.2% of married women who earn cash reported that they decide how their earnings are used, either alone or jointly wit...
The union under strain: India must reckon with the crisis of centralisation A democratic, pluralist republic is being hollowed out from the centre. The remedy is bold: devolve power, resources and governance back to the states that built this nation May 28th 2026 | Hyderabad India's constitutional settlement was never intended to produce a monolithic state governed by a single cultural identity. The framers of its 1950 constitution understood that a country of some thirty major languages, hundreds of dialects, and dozens of distinct civilisational traditions could only cohere through a genuine federal bargain: one in which each linguistic and cultural nationality retained meaningful self-governance, while sharing a common framework of rights, institutions and duties. That bargain is now under severe stress. The pressures are both structural and ideological. Structurally, the central government has steadily accumulated fiscal, administrative and cultural authority at the expense o...