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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Ali Aouad
Kamalini Ramdas
Alp Sungu
23 September, 2024
- Articles
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...
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Arindam Das
Jean Drèze
26 July, 2024
- 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...
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Sonalde Desai
15 July, 2024
- Articles
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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Joshua Merfeld
Jonathan Morduch
16 December, 2024
- Articles
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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Samreen Malik
Nishtha Sharma
12 December, 2024
- Articles
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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Anshuman Kamila
Sagar Wadhwa
25 October, 2024
- Perspectives
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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Klaus Abbink
Gaurav Datt
Lata Gangadharan
Digvijay S. Negi
Bharat Ramaswami
16 October, 2024
- Articles
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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Reetika Khera
03 October, 2024
- Perspectives
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...
-
Ali Aouad
Kamalini Ramdas
Alp Sungu
23 September, 2024
- Articles
Why are canteens important when 800 million people get free grains?
Over the past decade, canteens have been established in various parts of India to provide subsidised meals and enhance food security. Based on a survey of canteens conducted across three states, Reeti...
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Reetika Khera
02 September, 2024
- 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...
-
Arindam Das
Jean Drèze
26 July, 2024
- 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...
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Sonalde Desai
15 July, 2024
- 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...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Rishabh Kumar
29 May, 2024
- Perspectives
How reforming India’s workfare programme raised private sector earnings
By randomising the rollout of improved, biometric payment infrastructure used to issue National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme payments in Andhra Pradesh, this study found that this reform raised i...
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Karthik Muralidharan
Paul Niehaus
Sandip Sukhtankar
25 January, 2024
- Articles
Could job creation be a driver of poverty reduction in India?
While the Indian economy continues to grow, there is a consensus that creating more jobs is vital to reduce poverty. Ejaz Ghani shares trends which suggest that job creation is being driven by cities ...
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Ejaz Ghani
03 November, 2023
- Perspectives
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Tweets by Ideas4IndiaMost 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...
Nitin Kumar Bharti
28 June, 2019
- 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...
Reetika Khera
25 March, 2020
- 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...
Devika Malhotra Sharma
11 September, 2019
- Perspectives