Jaan Pehchaan
Design for
Finding secure work, Internal migrants, Service design, Social change
Year
2019-2020
This MA – Dissertation questions “How do we achieve social inclusion of internal migrant workers in India?”.
Modern poverty is not about the lack of money alone but also the lack of social relationships and connections. In India this phenomenon is called jaan-pehchaan and is practiced in much more intensity because of century old practices of caste based discriminations.
The design-led proposition in the form of a service is meant to increase jaan-pehchaan of domestic workers in Mumbai which in-return increases their social mobility. This is achieved by linking middle-class participants with the working-class migrants to share their ‘jaan pehchaan’ and offer mentorship. In that manner we test and evaluate the concept of social-circularity and whether it will lead communities to better futures.
INSIGHT
Did your project evolve in unexpected ways?
The project evolved in many unexpected ways. The literature review played an important role in framing the problem at an intersection of internal migration, the wealth gap and development in India. Exploring that intersection further with very specific questions in the context of Mumbai city revealed the ‘Jaan – pehchaan’ phenomenon which later took the central theme of the dissertation.
How did this project impact you as a designer moving forward?
The biggest impact of this project on my design practice is the need to engage with the people we are designing for at every stage of the process. It was really hard to get in touch with internal migrant workers during a nationwide lockdown but with the help of technology the project could rightfully document their voices and inform the design intervention.
What were the key methods that you used for this work?
The key methodologies used in this project were primary research in the form of participatory interviews with migrant workers, and experts in social inclusion practices. Some other important thinking tool used were Heidegger’s reframing and Homi Bhabha’s theory of the third space. These frameworks molded a new framework for this project called social-circularity.
The exclusion of internal migrants in the nation’s development 
Social circularity to increase social-connections or jaan-pehchaan 
Design intervention to reduce the gap between middle-class and working-class groups 
Service Design blueprint
