Mapping Exercise of Home Based Workers in Maharashtra

Home-based work has a much wider scope of activity than the singular task of an individual working from his/her home. This essential service is tied in with a larger chain of forward and backward linkages that enable the value addition till the goods reach their final destination of sale. The forward links could be smaller as in the case of local small or micro entrepreneurs marketing these items, or much larger as in the case of the items that are being exported. Either case, the individual working from home has some of the most crucial tasks to perform before the goods make their way to the consumer through shops or markets or export houses. The mapping exercise commissioned by Homenet India was conducted in the state of Maharashtra from 28 Oct and 07 Dec 2011. Since this was a particularly small timeframe, exhaustive interviews, both in numbers and in quality could not be undertaken. However through this mapping exercise, several such workers and trades were documented, for which there is no precedent. [Report].