28 November, 2018Rags to riches? Understanding social mobility in India
To what extent is an individual’s status in society determined by the position of his or her parents? Analysing data from the Indian Human Development Survey, 2011-2012, this column finds that the p...
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Vegard Iversen Anirudh Krishna Kunal Sen 
13 November, 2017
- Articles
Can Rahul Gandhi’s minimum income guarantee proposal work?
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has promised a minimum income guarantee scheme for the poor if the party is voted to power in the upcoming elections. Discussing the proposal and associated concerns, P...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
- 07 February, 2019
- Perspectives
Introduction to e-Symposium: The idea of a universal basic income in the Indian context
The idea of an unconditional basic income given to all citizens by the State, has caught on in the developed world. Does it make sense for India? To examine the issue, I4I Editor Parikshit Ghosh is h...
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Parikshit Ghosh
- 26 September, 2016
- Symposia
Workfare as an effective way to fight poverty: The case of India's MNREGA
The fundamental appeal of a workfare programme, vis-à-vis a welfare programme, is that it helps in targeting the beneficiaries. This column assesses the welfare impact of MNREGA on poor rural househ...
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Shamika Ravi
- 11 December, 2014
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MNREGA's swan song: Not everyone's idea of achche din
Over the last few months, the central government announced a set of measures to restrict MNREGA. The rationale essentially revolves around corruption in the scheme and lack of economic viability. In ...
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Amitava Gupta
- 14 November, 2014
- Perspectives
(Mis)Leading attack on MNREGA
Bhagwati and Panagariya have argued for phasing out MNREGA in favour of cash transfers. In this article, Abreu et al. contend that the argument is based on inflating the costs of the programme and de...
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Dilip Abreu Pranab Bardhan Maitreesh Ghatak Ashok Kotwal Dilip Mookherjee Debraj Ray
- 12 November, 2014
- Perspectives
Switching to sanitation in South Asia: A study of health technology adoption (a seed study)
Open defecation in rural India presents a puzzle: India has far higher open defecation rates than other developing regions where people are poorer, literacy rates are lower, and water is more scarce.
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Diane Coffey
- 31 October, 2014
- IGC Research on India
A critical assessment of the Rangarajan Panel Report on poverty measurement
An expert committee headed by C Rangarajan was appointed by the government to rethink poverty measurement in India. This column provides a critical assessment of the recently released report of the C...
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Ranjan Ray Kompal Sinha
- 30 October, 2014
- Articles
Is the proposed restructuring of MNREGA desirable?
The rural development ministry plans to restrict MNREGA to the 200 most backward districts, and reduce the wage component of the total expenditure of the programme. In this article, Ashwini Kulkarni ...
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Ashwini Kulkarni
- 20 October, 2014
- Perspectives
The 'urban sprawl' and declining rural-urban inequality
India has experienced rapid urbanisation in the past three decades. Has urbanisation impacted the economic wellbeing of rural and urban workers? This column finds that the rural-urban wage gap has sh...
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Viktoria Hnatkovska Amartya Lahiri
- 29 September, 2014
- Articles
Please weight
The latest wealth index by New World Wealth that looks at multimillionaires has ranked India eighth in the global rich list. This article contends that looking at absolute numbers may be misleading. ...
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Maitreesh Ghatak Debraj Ray
- 05 September, 2014
- Perspectives
Squaring the poverty circle
An expert group headed by C Rangarajan has recommended a poverty measurement methodology for India. In this article, Deaton and Drèze argue that the method proposed by the expert group to set povert...
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Angus Deaton Jean Drèze
- 30 July, 2014
- Perspectives
MNREGA: Populist leaky bucket or successful anti-poverty programme?
MNREGA – the world’s largest workfare programme - formed the backbone of the UPA government’s anti-poverty programme, and may well represent its most important legacy in the long run. This colu...
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Dilip Mookherjee
- 28 May, 2014
- Articles
The plight of 'complimentary' migrants: Children at brick kilns
Migration for work is meant to benefit families of migrant workers. But what if the families migrate along with the worker? Based on visits to brick kilns in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Prade...
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Parul Agarwal
- 09 May, 2014
- Notes
Going beyond the Gujarat versus rest of India debate on growth rates
This column attempts to widen the ongoing growth rates-based debate on ‘Gujarat vs. rest of India’ by ranking Indian states on prices, cost of living, household expenditures and inequality, which...
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Ranjan Ray
- 07 May, 2014
- Articles
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Tweets by Ideas4IndiaMost Popular Poverty & Inequality Posts
Aadhaar, biometrics, and the PDS in Jharkhand
Aadhaar-based biometric authentication was made mandatory for obtaining rations under the Public Distribution System in Ranchi district in Jharkhand in August 2016. In this article, Nazar Khalid demon...
- Nazar Khalid
- 10 January, 2018
- Perspectives
A universal basic income to step up economic reform
In this article, Nimai Mehta, Academic Director of the Global Economics and Business Program at the American University, highlights the political challenge of introducing the wider set of reforms nee...
- Nimai Mehta
- 28 October, 2016
- Perspectives
Financial literacy: When, what and how
The need for financial literacy and its importance for financial inclusion have been widely recognised. Based on various research studies on financial literacy initiatives, this column outlines finan...
- Parul Agarwal
- 05 January, 2015
- Articles