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Human Development

Lighting the path to learning: Can electricity boost children’s test scores?

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Reflections on how the New Education Policy plays out in the classroom

The National Education Policy, 2020 emphasises the acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy by Standard 2. Yet, little is known about how the related initiatives have translated into changes ...

  • Notes from the Field

The wide-ranging benefits of India’s Public Distribution System

India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) is the world’s largest food transfer programme and India’s most far-reaching social safety net, accounting for 60% of the country’s social assistance b...

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Network membership and demand for health insurance

Despite being free and having liberal eligibility criteria, the adoption of public health insurance in India remains low. This article examines how informal networks influence adoption behaviour, in t...

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Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink? Information and enabling access to clean water

Over 50 million people in India are exposed to arsenic-contaminated water, leading to adverse health outcomes – especially for children. Yet, the demand for private, safe drinking water remains low ...

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How teachers’ beliefs can shape motivation and student learning

While teacher effort is crucial for student learning, evidence suggests that this is not what teachers themselves believe. This article presents findings from a randomised experiment involving a psych...

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Aiding the search for good jobs: Evidence from Uganda

To design policies that lead young labour-market entrants to good jobs, it is important to understand job search processes and what affects the ability to find gainful employment. Based on an experime...

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How investing in girls’ education can reduce domestic violence in India

One-third of women in India aged 15-49 report experiencing domestic violence. This article examines the impact of an increase in education among girls due to the District Primary Education Programme ...

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Enhancing secondary school learning: Role of remedial camps and teacher flexibility

A key dilemma in Indian education is that while children are enrolled in school, they are not actually learning. Based on an experiment in Odisha, this article explores possible solutions to the learn...

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Transforming menstrual hygiene in India

Launched in 2014, the ‘Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram’ seeks to improve menstrual hygiene in India by addressing issues around affordability as well as awareness. In this post, Kanika Dua con...

  • Perspectives

What ASER 2023 reveals about the gender gap in confidence

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 finds that although gender gaps in school enrolment have fallen over the years, girls still lag behind in terms of access to and use of digital techno...

  • Notes from the Field

Can safe drinking water improve children’s educational outcomes?

It is well-established that treated water has health benefits, but can it also enhance children’s educational outcomes? Analysing India Human Development Survey data, this article provides evidence ...

  • Articles

The tribal communities of central India: Challenges and way forward

The ‘Status of Adivasi Livelihoods’ Report has once again brought attention to the dire situation of tribes in central India. Based on a survey of tribal households in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisga...

  • Notes from the Field

Improving healthcare access to address the rise in non-communicable diseases among Indian women

In light of the changing healthcare burden for women, with a rise in mortality due to non-communicable diseases, Bhan and Shukla outline the incidence of diseases in Indian states over the last two de...

  • Perspectives

Second Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture: Inequality, Labour and Social Democracy

The Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture was instituted in 2022, in memory of our founding Editor-in-Chief, as an annual lecture on key issues of development. For its second edition, I4I hosted Professor Pra...

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Impact of India’s Mission Parivar Vikas on fertility rates and family planning

India’s large-scale family planning programme, Mission Parivar Vikas, improves access to contraception, offers monetary incentives to beneficiaries for programme adoption, and disseminates informati...

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Recent Contributors

Deepak

Deepak Kumar

ASER Centre

Shweta

Shweta Bhutada

ASER Centre

Somdeep

Somdeep Chatterjee

Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

Shiv

Shiv Hastawala

State University of New York at Binghamton

Jai

Jai Kamal

Indian Institute of Management Jammu

Suman

Suman Bhattacharjea

ASER Centre

Akanksha

Akanksha Bisht

ASER centre

Rashmi

Rashmi Barua

Jawaharlal Nehru University

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Most Popular Human Development Posts

Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials in India: District-level estimates from Census 2011

The 2011 Indian Census data show a higher growth rate of Muslim population compared to the Hindu population. This article provides an in-depth picture of Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials at the di...

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Understanding India’s mental health crisis

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, several reports have indicated a worsening of mental health issues among individuals across age groups. In this post, Michele Mary Bernadine examines the stat...

  • Perspectives

Ten steps to transform the quality of education in India

In this article, Sridhar Rajagopalan, Managing Director of Educational Initiatives, suggests 10 initiatives that can help transform the quality of education in India.

  • Perspectives