For ActionAid India to make any significant dent in this scenario of inequity and injustice, root, structural causes of poverty have to be tackled, and not just distress conditions manifested because of these causes.

AAI's role stems out of this world view of poverty, which requires a rights-based approach to AAI's work. We would seek to restore rights of the poor and marginalized, from the state and civil society, by playing appropriate roles.

• Facilitate the identification of chronic and systematic denial of rights, and an analysis of the sources and causes of such denial. This analysis would derive authenticity only if it is undertaken by and in very close interaction with the groups who suffer from the denial of rights. It would further involve processes by which such groups acquire consciousness of their oppressed situation and the causes of this situation [“conscientisation”], and by which they develop strategies to resist, combat and seek to overcome the situation of the denial of their rights with the conviction that this oppression can and should end, and the resolve to organise to overcome this oppression collectively.
  
• Express solidarity in terms of unambiguously taking sides with the group that is denied rights. This could involve support to peaceful resistance and struggle; this might also involve assistance in legal aid and legal literacy. This would also mean support to activists from the groups suffering denial of rights working on these processes
  
• Assist in attempting to influence state law and policy in favor of the poor and margnialised, and proper enforcement of such laws, policies and programmes. In this role, we would also assist in building or establishing linkages with larger networks or other groups working on related issues. Here, we would also assist in accessing of relevant information and technologies.
  
• Ensure the provision of services that help sustain the groups suffering denial of rights during the period in which these various processes have an impact.

In order to operationalise the Rights Based Approach, we need to conscietise people who have been excluded in multiple ways from participating in deciding their own development. While continuing to work directly with the poor and marginalised people, also we join hands with their social movements engaged in similar work. To strengthen this process we build alliances and support campaigns and platform on different issues of contemporary importance for fighting poverty and injustice.

Some of the more recent people's campaigns that we are a part of are: Peoples Caravan, Global Call for Action Against Poverty, Peoples Summit Against Poverty, Right to Work, Violence against Women, Universalisation of School Education, Anti-Trafficking and HIV and AIDS.