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Human Development

Sweet cash: Women’s demand for healthcare in developing countries

Agrawal et al. explore the role of gender-based preferences for demand of healthcare. Using CPHS data they find that the positive income shock – generated by a change in the mandated rates of contri...

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Nutritional penalty of motherhood: Can midday meals for children also improve their mothers’ health outcomes?

Midday meals provide a nutritional safety net for children and improve their learning outcomes and attendance. Nikita Sharma argues that spillover benefits might also exist for mothers of the children...

  • Perspectives

Is open defecation still prevalent in rural north India?

In an attempt to understand open defecation in four focus states in the aftermath of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Vyas and Gupta evaluate the findings of the NFHS-5. They note that the NFHS is likely to...

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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 ...

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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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Persistent struggle for learning: A tale of tribal regions

The recent National Achievement Survey shows that tribal districts lag behind in learning outcomes. This article suggests this to be of significant concern, as the distribution of schooling infrastruc...

  • Perspectives

How socioeconomic status shapes parental beliefs about child academic achievement

This article highlights the prevalence of socioeconomic disparities in parental beliefs about their child’s performance – often outpacing actual disparities in academic performance. Analysis using...

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The role of caste and gender in determining science education in India

Studying science at the higher secondary level is essential to pursue further STEM education in India. However, based on recent research, this article documents the prevalence of gender- and caste-bas...

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Home-based learning through low-cost mobile teaching: Findings from Odisha

Evaluating the effectiveness of a low-cost Home-Based Learning programme implemented during the Covid-19 school closures in Odisha, this article finds that it improved the mathematics and language lea...

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The ‘invisible’ disability of mental illness: Barriers to social security access

Sakshi Sharda writes about the how a lack of clarity on the assessment and diagnosis of mental health and poor implementation of social security schemes increases the vulnerability of those livings wi...

  • Perspectives

Making menstrual health a welfare priority: Insights from three states

Public policies on menstrual health have mainly focussed on distributing sanitary napkins to women and girls. However, in this note, Tanya Rana shares some insights gained from conversations with fron...

  • Notes from the Field

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Narbadeshwar Mishra

Krea University

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Nandita Bhan

O. P. Jindal University

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University of California, Berkeley

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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...

  • Articles

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

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