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Poverty & Inequality

Declining PDS leakages: A look at the numbers

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A short history of MNREGA: 20 years in 10 charts

Launched in 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) has completed 20 years. In this post, Drèze and Ramesh reflect on the programme’s achievements, failures, and f...

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What broad lessons have we learned from 115 studies on unconditional cash transfers?

Globally, around 700 million people currently live in extreme poverty, and in recent years, unconditional cash transfers have emerged as a popular tool for poverty alleviation in low- and middle-incom...

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Food deprivation: A thali index reveals what poverty estimates do not

Poverty in India is typically estimated based on a poverty line that identifies the purchasing power needed to satisfy the daily calorific intake deemed necessary. In this post, Balakrishnan and Raj m...

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Declining PDS leakages: A look at the numbers

Estimates have shown that leakages of foodgrain from the Public Distribution System declined from 42% in 2011-12 to 22-28% in 2022-23. Analysing new data from the Household Consumption and Expenditure...

  • Perspectives

A short history of MNREGA: 20 years in 10 charts

Launched in 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) has completed 20 years. In this post, Drèze and Ramesh reflect on the programme’s achievements, failures, and f...

  • Articles

What broad lessons have we learned from 115 studies on unconditional cash transfers?

Globally, around 700 million people currently live in extreme poverty, and in recent years, unconditional cash transfers have emerged as a popular tool for poverty alleviation in low- and middle-incom...

  • Articles

Food deprivation: A thali index reveals what poverty estimates do not

Poverty in India is typically estimated based on a poverty line that identifies the purchasing power needed to satisfy the daily calorific intake deemed necessary. In this post, Balakrishnan and Raj m...

  • Perspectives

Could better jobs for men have improved gender equality?

Evidence indicates that economic growth can improve gender equality. In this post, Sujata Balasubramanian suggests that India’s high-growth period from 1982-83 to 2011-12 failed to do so substantial...

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Do minimum wages reduce inequality in India?

Wage inequality in India has declined over the past two decades. This article examines the role of rising minimum wages in driving this trend. Exploiting state-level variations in legislative minimum ...

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India’s poverty rate does not measure what you think it does

Like all national poverty rates, India’s poverty rate is interpreted as the share of the population that is poor in a given year. In this post, Merfeld and Morduch argue that, in practice, India’s...

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The economics of begging

Informal estimates suggest that 60% of the world’s population engages in giving to beggars. This article provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of begging as an economic activity. Based on ob...

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Poverty is bad – but is vulnerability worse?

Official data reveal that poverty in India has declined significantly over time. In this post, Kamila and Wadhwa make the case for policy discourse to shift towards the phenomenon of ‘vulnerability...

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In-kind transfers: Deadweight losses or gains?

Do in-kind transfers for social assistance lead to ‘deadweight losses’ by restricting consumer choice? This article presents findings from an experiment in Maharashtra, which involved offering low...

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Impact of the Food Security Act on Public Distribution System

‘Leakages’ from the Public Distribution System – that is, grain released by the Food Corporation of India that fails to reach consumers – stood at around 42% in 2011-12 at an all-India level. ...

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Grain subsidies and junk food purchases among low-income individuals

While governments rely on expensive food subsidy programmes to address malnutrition among low-income communities, their impact is unclear as only self-reported data on food purchase decisions are avai...

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Recent Contributors

Prabhu

Prabhu Pingali

Tata-Cornell Institute

Raghav

Raghav Puri

Cornell University

Jean

Jean Drèze

Ranchi University; Delhi School of Economics

Rahul

Rahul R

Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

Dean

Dean Karlan

Northwestern University

Tommaso

Tommaso Crosta

Bocconi University

Finley

Finley Ong

Lengo AI

Julius

Julius Ruschenpohler

Global Poverty Research Lab

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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...

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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...

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A review of the coverage of PDS

The coverage of the Public Distribution System (PDS) has been of wide interest due to the pandemic and lockdown. Based on government data sources, Khera and Somanchi estimate the state-wise coverage o...

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