ACORN India is a grassroots organization empowering informal workers across multiple sectors, with chapters in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. Through its initiatives—including the Dharavi Project for waste pickers, the Hawkers Joint Action Committee (HJAC) for street vendors facing harassment and displacement, and the Janpahal Initiative for gig workers seeking social security—ACORN India fights for dignified working conditions, fair policies, and environmental justice in one of the world’s largest informal economies.

The organization’s philosophy centers on collective power: bringing together hawkers, waste pickers, gig workers, and their communities to advocate for themselves through unity and coordinated action rather than individual struggles. Working directly with affected communities while simultaneously engaging government stakeholders like the Ministry of Labour Resources, ACORN India is building a nationwide movement that recognizes that real change comes when ordinary people act together to secure their rights, entitlements, and dignity.

Affiliates

Hawkers

Gig-workers

Cities

• Bengaluru
• Delhi
• Mumbai

Latest Updates from ACORN India

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  ACORN India continued fighting for housing rights in DharaviJuly 19, 2024
  In response to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, a government initiative aimed at transforming Asia’s largest slum. Building on momentum from last month, the Hawker’s Joint Action Committee organized a regional meeting of street vendors to demand trade licenses and social protections.
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  ACORN India Advocates for Dharavi Residents Amid Major Redevelopment PlansMay 20, 2024
  ACORN India spent April amplifying the voices of the residents of the Dharavi housing camp, home of over one million people. As the government and businesses negotiates major re-development plans for the camp, ACORN Dharavi has been advocating for clarity and accountability in the project to ensure the people are heard. The Green Warrior Women continue their waste-picking… Read more: ACORN India Advocates for Dharavi Residents Amid Major Redevelopment Plans
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  ACORN India’s Green Warriors, salvaged over three tons of plastic waste from streetsMarch 27, 2024
  ACORN India’s Green Warriors, (the women’s waste pickers of Dharavi) salvaged over three tons of plastic waste from streets, and participated in an ACORN workshop focused on their mental and physical health, hosted by Dr Shreya Agrawal.
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  ACORN India and SOSVA are making a difference in Dharavi by educating and providing resources.February 29, 2024
  ACORN India and SOSVA continued their important program to provide education and resources about menstruation to teen girls in Dharavi. Since the program began, they have worked with over 600 adolescents, providing three months worth of free sanitary products.
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  ACORN India has been hard at work with many events and campaigns to empower women and childrenOctober 12, 2023
  The  Empowering Women in WPC Conference held at the YMCA in Mumbai, which addressed the various concerns of women in leadership, and ACORN India and SOSVA held a women waste picker collectives training meeting. Important campaigns in Dharavi continued for youth, including hygiene programs for menstruating young people, art education, and healthy nutrition programs.
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  ACORN India: People’s Commission and Public Enquiry Committee Collaborate with Hawkers Joint Action CommitteeAugust 8, 2023
  Peoples Commission and Public Enquiry committee and Hawkers Joint Action Committee jointly organized the third public hearing in Delhi. Today’s People’s Commission: Jyoti Laxmi (of Satat Sampad, many years of work with hawkers), Arun Mohan (film maker associated with Media Collective), Dr Seema Mathur (Ambedkarvadi Lekhak Sangh and professor at DU), Dr. Avinash Kumar (former… Read more: ACORN India: People’s Commission and Public Enquiry Committee Collaborate with Hawkers Joint Action Committee
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  ACORN India : Updates from July 2023July 12, 2023
  ACORN India representatives spoke at a convention in New Delhi on Contemporary Popular Movements in India. In Dharavi, ACORN India hosted a Women’s Group Discussion Meeting among waste collectors, homemakers, and small unit workers. They also conducted a free Food Safety Training & Certification (FOSTAC) training session in Noida for street food vendors.
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  For ACORN India Black Friday is #MakeAmazonPay dayNovember 26, 2021
  On Black Friday, join workers and activists around the world as we mobilize to #MakeAmazonPay. Amazon workers paid for Jeff Bezos to go space. On 26 November, they are demanding justice — and asking you to join them: MakeAmazonPay.com Amazon could give each of its workers a Covid-19 bonus of $690,000 — and still be… Read more: For ACORN India Black Friday is #MakeAmazonPay day