Featured Interview in DeFacto 2026 — Hansraj College, University of Delhi
The annual publication DeFacto 2026 by The Commerce Society, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, features an in-depth interview with Shruti Nagvanshi, highlighting her decades of work with marginalized communities through Jan Mitra Nyas and People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR).
The interview appears on pages 16–17 of the digital edition and reflects on grassroots leadership, dignity, caste realities, women’s empowerment, and community-led transformation in India.
A Journey Rooted in Human Dignity
In the interview, Shruti Nagvanshi speaks about the origins of PVCHR in 1996 and how the organisation evolved into a community-centered movement for justice and dignity. She reflects on working alongside Dalits, Musahars, women, bonded labourers, and survivors of torture and discrimination.
One of the central themes of the conversation is dignity — not as an abstract concept, but as a lived human experience. She explains that dignity means recognizing the inherent worth of every human being, beyond caste, gender, or social status. According to her, real transformation begins when marginalized communities reclaim voice, confidence, and agency.
Grassroots Change Through Community Leadership
The interview highlights how PVCHR’s approach focuses on empowering survivors and communities rather than treating them merely as beneficiaries. Through testimonial therapy, collective healing, legal empowerment, and grassroots mobilization, communities historically pushed to the margins have emerged as leaders of change.
Shruti Nagvanshi shares how witnessing the lives of Musahar children, bonded labourers, sanitation workers, and widows shaped her understanding of social justice and strengthened her commitment to community-based activism.
Caste, Gender, and the Right to Survival
A powerful part of the interview addresses systemic inequalities rooted in caste and gender. The discussion points to how structural discrimination continues to affect access to nutrition, healthcare, education, and dignity for marginalized communities.
She speaks about invisible suffering — communities whose labour sustains cities while their lives remain excluded from public narratives and policy priorities. The interview calls attention to the need for inclusive development rooted in participation, visibility, and human rights.
Hope as Resistance
Another striking reflection in the interview is the idea of hope as discipline and resistance. Shruti Nagvanshi describes hope not as passive optimism, but as the courage to continue working despite injustice and slow change.
She speaks of small but powerful transformations: a survivor speaking publicly for the first time, a Dalit child sitting confidently in a classroom, or a woman overcoming fear and asserting her voice. These moments, she says, represent reclaiming dignity and humanity.
Documenting Voices Through “Margins to Centre Stage”
The interview also discusses the book Margins to Centre Stage: Empowering Dalits in India, which documents decades of grassroots struggles and community resilience. Rather than treating suffering as statistics, the work attempts to preserve human stories of survival, courage, and transformation.
Continuing the Journey
The feature in DeFacto 2026 stands as recognition of grassroots human rights work rooted in empathy, collective action, and community leadership. It also reflects the growing engagement of young academic platforms with conversations around social justice, dignity, and inclusive development.
As Shruti Nagvanshi notes in the interview, transformation becomes possible when marginalized communities gain voice, visibility, and collective strength.
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