Dasra Reviews

The leadership has zero understanding of what diversity and inclusion really means...when questioned on hiring practices will openly say that it isn't easy to hire with the GEDI lens and when they do, the people don’t fit into the “culture” They also call themselves “corporate” culture and therefore people with social sector experience don't fit in apparently. They will hire only a certain kind of people, either compliant, or rich and can connect Dasra to more funding opportunities. They cater to funders expectations alone, even if that means sitting on the NGOs head and convincing them that they need to scale up even if they don’t feel ready for it. Staff opinion matters only if it is the same as leadership Excellent at gaslighting, pushing people in the corner till they leave and then getting the compliant staff to write good reviews for them on glassdoor!

- Roles and responsibilities are assigned in a haphazard, non-transparent and discriminatory way. Appraisal system while on-paper seems robust, in practice, it is fraught with biases, subjectiveness, and agenda-driven. These convoluted system means that one is in for many dogged years of meaningless work and no real advancement in career. - HR system is broken and serves no real purpose to address challenges faced by employees - A highly bureaucratic system of decision-making - During my three year tenure, the company had pivoted its organization structure three times and shifted its strategic goals based on the discretion of a few top-level leaders - Top-level leaders either choose to remain ignorant or knowingly avoid structural problems within the organizational system - While the leaders may preach or portray that women empowerment and gender equity are of utmost importance, in practice it does the exact opposite. In fact, I was once made to feel belittled about my attire and told to dress in "western formals" for meetings and not in "Indian formals". I've also been told that not to wear certain clothes because the "office staff can see". - To keep adding to this list is exhausting. Hence, I will end it here by mentioning that there is no or very little tangible action that is leading to the achievement of the company's vision, which goes something like build an India where a billion people thrive with dignity and equity.