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Poverty & Inequality

Why are canteens important when 800 million people get free grains?

  • Notes from the Field

The problem of India’s stagnant real wages

New data from the Labour Bureau and the National Sample Survey Office point to a virtual stagnation of real wages in India over the past decade. In this post, Das and Drèze argue that this trend poin...

  • Perspectives

Rethinking social safety nets in a changing society

This paper was coauthored by Debasis Barik, Pallavi Choudhuri, Bijay Chouhan, Om Prakash Sharma, Dinesh Kumar Tiwari (NCAER) and Sharan Sharma (University of Maryland College Park and NCAER). Histori...

  • Articles

Determining how many Indians are poor today

Poverty debates in India have seen a revival since the release of a fact sheet from the 2022-23 household consumption expenditure survey. In this post, Ghatak and Kumar note that the general consensus...

  • Perspectives
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Did MNREGA cushion job losses during the pandemic?

The 2021-22 Budget allocation for MNREGA is 34% lower than the revised estimates for the programme in 2020-21. Analysing official MNREGA data, this article suggests that districts that have historical...

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How wide is the ‘sink of localism’ in India?

While spatial segregation based on caste or religion is a constitutive feature of social life in India, there have been very few systematic studies of it. This article presents central findings from t...

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Declining common lands in India: Role of economic inequality

The area under common pool land resources (CPLRs), which are crucial to rural livelihoods in India, has recorded a steady decline over the last three decades. Common land is diverted either as private...

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Welfare through workfare? Lessons from the early days of MNREGA

Workfare programmes are an old tool to provide necessary income support to the poorest in times of recessions, droughts, and now pandemics. Yet, these are often questioned for their effectiveness. As ...

  • Articles

Building resilience among ultra-poor for times of crisis

Lack of integration into the existing social protection system exacerbates the poor's vulnerabilities, leaving them without adequate support structures during a crisis. In this note, Shagun Sabarwal a...

  • Notes from the Field

Does workfare work? MNREGA during Covid-19

In the wake of the large-scale return of migrant workers from cities to rural areas on account of the Covid-19 lockdowns and associated job losses, it was apparent that MNREGA would need to play a cru...

  • Articles

What pay ratios in NIFTY50 companies tell us about income inequality in India

In the wake of the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, demands for relief from the corporate sector were as vocal as those for affected workers. However, the s...

  • Perspectives

Balancing corruption and exclusion: Comment on the response

The role of Aadhaar in reducing corruption in the PDS has been highly controversial. In a recent I4I article, Muralidharan et al. summarised the insights of their study of Aadhaar-based biometric auth...

  • Perspectives

DUET: Creating a resilient ecosystem for vulnerable populations

Providing their perspective on Drèze’s DUET proposal for an urban work programme, the authors contend that its objective should not just be financial support but the creation of a wider ecosystem t...

  • Perspectives

Examining the macro effects of MNREGA

While numerous micro-founded studies examine the household-level effects of MNREGA, little is known about its aggregate macro effects and long-term benefits to output, if any. Analysing district-level...

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Balancing corruption and exclusion: A response

The role of Aadhaar in reducing corruption in PDS has been highly controversial. In a recent I4I article, Muralidharan et al. summarised the results of their study in Jharkhand, which confirmed the 'p...

  • Perspectives

DUET: Expand to include social protection for informal workers

Commenting on Jean Drèze’s DUET proposal, Rakshita Swamy and Amit Basole highlight its simple design as its strength and propose a more comprehensive approach that also includes social protection f...

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Reetika Khera

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

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Ali Aouad

MIT Sloan School of Management

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Kamalini Ramdas

London Business School

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Alp Sungu

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

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Jean Drèze

Ranchi University; Delhi School of Economics

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Arindam Das

Foundation for Agrarian Studies, Bangalore

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Sonalde Desai

University of Maryland

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Maitreesh Ghatak

London School of Economics

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Most Popular Poverty & Inequality Posts

Wealth inequality, class, and caste in India: 1961-2012

The level of wealth inequality in India is close to that of some highly unequal countries in the world. This article assesses the long-term evolution of wealth inequality in the country for the period...

  • Articles

Covid-19: What can be done immediately to help vulnerable population

With over 80% of India’s workforce employed in the informal sector and one-third working as casual labour, Covid-19's spread and subsequent unplanned lockdowns, have created economic havoc in the li...

  • Perspectives

EWS reservation in higher education: Affirmative action or vote bank politics?

The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019, provides for 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in higher educational institutions within the general category. In this post, Devi...

  • Perspectives