Studies show a positive relationship between women's empowerment and dietary diversity. However, this relationship is not as straightforward as it seems, due to changing dietary patterns resulting from rapid urbanization, prevalent socio-cultural norms, and structural barriers that limit women's agency. Further, the concept of empowerment itself is complex and multi-dimensional, making it challenging to measure women’s empowerment. Progress is being made in measuring women's empowerment through the women's empowerment in agriculture index (WEAI) and its variants, including the project level WEAI (pro-WEAI). There is scanty scholarship on pro-WEAI indicators and MDD-W especially around urban and peri-urban areas. This study examines the relationship between women's empowerment and the variety of foods consumed by women of reproductive age in West Bengal, India, and identifies factors that influence MDD-W. We collected primary data from 542 women aged 18-49 during March-April 2024 from two communities in the North and South 24 Parganas of West Bengal and used standard method to analyze pro-WEAI and MDD-W indicators. Descriptive results showed geographic disparities in economic, education, and social dimensions, highlighting the importance of contextual understanding. The analysis of ten food group consumption revealed similarities between the communities, with scheduled caste women consuming slightly more vitamin A-rich foods. Both scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities, however, face challenges in achieving minimum dietary requirements. We observed consistent dietary diversity against the pro-WEAI score. However, once it reaches a certain level, the MDD-W increases, indicating that women of reproductive age from such marginalized communities need to be empowered up to a certain threshold for the recommended dietary outcome. This study contributes to help develop tailored interventions to empower women, with the goal of enhancing nutritional outcomes for women of reproductive age, especially in resource-limited marginalized communities.

Objectives: India, known for having one of the world's most extensive and varied education systems, experienced a hasty expansion in its private education sphere. This growth has been particularly notable in low-fee private schools (LFPS), which currently have thirty percent enrollment. There is a transparent barrier to looking at having qualified and trained teachers in these schools (Vaidya & Hilali, 2021; Chattopadhay & Roy, 2017). Little attention has been given to the working conditions and hiring processes at these schools (Afridi, 2017; UNESCO, 2022). According to UNESCO report (2019), private education providers are becoming significant employers of teachers globally. However, there is very little on teachers' work conditions in low-fee private schools, how these schools maintain systemic inequalities (Chudgar & Sakamoto, 2021), and how this discrimination affects teachers' overall job satisfaction, career, and motivation. How LFP schools hire teachers without a contract and keep off track of the tracing of how they carry out the recruitment policies with teachers.

Conceptual framework: I draw upon Cultural Capital Theory, a framework on teachers' working conditions and Shadow Institutional, offering distinct lenses to examine the complex interplay of factors shaping teachers' experiences.

Research design: I will use a qualitative case study approach. This approach intends to deeply understand individuals' lived experiences and how they interpret phenomena (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This approach can help uncover teachers' subjective perspectives in low-fee private schools (LFPSs) and elite schools, shedding light on their drives, challenges, hiring process and aspirations.

Data sources: This will be gathered through school observations, document analysis, and interviews with teachers and principals.

Results and/or conclusions: The anticipated outcomes of my research will provide a comprehensive understanding of the differences between low-fee private schools and elite schools regarding teacher working conditions, teaching contracts, and recruitment practices.

In India, there has been a recent change in the way corporations and philanthropic organizations support education in India. They developed a growing interest in adopting outcome-based funding instead of traditional input-based funding, and partnering with the State. We present three cases where corporations and philanthropies partner with private actors to support the Government in achieving SDG 4. In these cases, funding was channelized through innovative financing instruments:

The first-ever Development Impact Bond (DIB) project in India to leverage Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding for outcomes payment, exclusively focusing on early literacy was the Haryana Early Literacy Development Impact Bond. It uses a unique structure, unlike the traditional DIB structure, and has utilised domestic sources of funding, primarily CSR funds, rather than foreign philanthropic donor funds.

Next, India’s first Skill Impact Bond also has CSR partners as the outcome funders, and a coalition of philanthropic organisations working on a shared vision of the Government of India to make the youth “employment ready” as envisaged in National Education Policy 2020 and Viksit Bharat@2047 goals.

Another impact bond called LiftEd had partnered with CSR funders to improve in-school learning outcomes and initiate a systemic change in the education sector, supporting the Government of India to strengthen Foundational Literacy and Numeracy driven by the NIPUN Bharat Mission.

The shift in the mechanisms of innovative funding not only has implications for the efficiency and effectiveness of the programs, but also for the relationship between State , Corporations, and Civil Society Organizations.Against this backdrop, this paper maps the current pattern of collaboration of private and public entities to support SDG 4 : Quality Education in India mostly through Outcome-based funding.