The shift in economic structure from agricultural to the modern service sector is hypothesized to promote growth by delivering inclusive quality employment. However, service sector is primarily associated with ‘high skilled’ labour, and in a context of labour surplus economy like India, there are concerns about labour absorption in services due to high presence of low and unskilled labour. Women make up a significant proportion of unskilled workers, but little is known about their participation in the service sector in the aftermath of economic structural change. Therefore, it becomes imperative to examine the participation of women within informal labour market in the services sector jobs. This article examines how employment opportunities fare for informal women workers within the services sector in cities? Can employment avenues that arise from expansion of services provide quality employment opportunities by leading them to step out of existing gender stereotypes in the labour market? Further, are these jobs equally accessible to all women? This is examined through micro-level analysis from survey, interviews and case studies of women workers in low-income neighbourhoodsof Hyderabad, India. In recent decades, Hyderabad has emerged as an epicentre for IT, attracting domestic and foreign players and drastically changing the city's labour and social landscape. Based on findings, the article attempts to analyse gendering the labour in modern informal service sector akin to the traditional categorization of women’s work. The article posits there is strong segmentation in modern economy and informal labour market based on institutional lines, which influences inclusion and exclusion of female workers. While the jobs are segmented on basis of gender, caste, education, new forms of segmentation are emerging in the forms of age, appearance, and intra-household factors, keeping women limited to only certain avenues in the modern economy.

Purpose: The paper demonstrates prejudicial effects of the rising private participation and the lacuna of state in ensuring the accessibility and affordability of healthcare. Design/methodology/approach: Secondary data analysis from national and international databases is employed to demonstrate the low government spending and the alternate healthcare financing mechanisms in the country. The company reports of six Indian pharma companies are examined to map the profits and revenues, and also taking into account the sales growth and return on investment. Findings: The paper observes the pharmaceutical sector, via its spiralling drug prices, is the primary contributor to the huge out-of-pocket expenses borne by households. The study findings indicate that there is an increased divergence between the out-of-pocket expenses of households and exorbitant profits of the private drug companies in the country over the years. Research limitations/implications: Amidst debates on the importance of public health in the aftermath of the pandemic, the paper examines the rising hands of private sector in healthcare, and implores – who benefits? The authors study the implications via looking into the rise in the wealth of pharma giants; at the time of crisis when the lives of common citizens in the country were at stake. Originality/value: The paper emphasises the repercussions of the higher markup of the pharma industry in raising the healthcare costs of households. The authors emphasise that the nonregulation of the pharma sector leads to high medical debts/poverty, in the wake of growing out-of-pocket expenditures of the citizens.