Burning stoves, empty pockets: The hidden cost of feeding India’s children

Millions of women cook for 120 million children daily, yet earn less than $1 a day with no benefits or job security

In the sweltering kitchen of a primary school in Sitapur, approximately 80km from Lucknow, Sunita Devi, 45, carefully stirs an enormous pot of dal as she has done for over a decade. The steam rises, fogging her glasses, but her hands move with precision.

Sunita represents just one among nearly 2.5 million women across...