This project jointly conducted by NCAER and the Tata Centre for Development at UChicago, studies the health and livelihood implications of a particular riverine community, that is, fisher folk, along selected polluted stretches of the Ganga river. The study conducted in two phases entails conduction of water experiments using censors, along with in-person interviews and... Read More
This NCAER study examines the economic benefits of investments made by the Ministry of Earth Sciences in the National Monsoon Mission (NMM) and High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities and their role in improving the accuracy of monsoonal rainfall predictions. The study finds that improvements in weather forecasts, disseminated by India Meteorological Department, have resulted in... Read More
The 16th India Policy Forum 2019 Volume comprises papers and highlights of the discussions at the India Policy Forum (IPF) held in New Delhi on July 8–10, 2019.The Annual IPF Lecture for 2019 was delivered on July 9 to a packed audience at NCAER by Professor Stanley Fischer, Former Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, US... Read More
Regulations of industrial municipal inflow in Ganga at the centre of pollution mitigation policies have dissociated rivers from riverine communities. The quality of water in rivers Ganga and Yamuna did not improve despite four decades of pollution-mitigation measures. But they did within 10 days of the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the... Read More
Placing money in the hands of people could help save lives as our economy looks set to shrink this year and possibly the next. The coronavirus pandemic reached India late giving us a chance to learn from the experience of countries where it had spread earlier. Drawing on that experience an unprecedented country-wide lockdown was... Read More
India has disappointed itself hugely in the way it handled the migrant labour issue. Why is the government being so tight-fisted in its support for the poor? Scenes of migrant labour returning home thirsty hungry and helpless shall be a scar on India forever. Images of men women and children walking in 44 degrees Celsius... Read More
This sector has developed locally without following global standards. Most players agree that setting standards and their voluntary adoption are the only way for reducing costs After the extended lockdown necessitated by the need to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus in the country the process of kick-starting the economy has now commenced in... Read More
Reverse migration is one side of the story. Workers with chronic ailments residing within States can also pose a risk Labour as a factor of production is a valuable service rendered by a human agent in the production of goods and services. The outcome is generation of wealth and welfare. In common parlance the term... Read More
Surveys show that the govt’s support schemes do not reach such households. Direct cash transfers and universal PDS will help As details of the stimulus package recently announced by Nirmala Sitharaman begin to emerge it appears that there is a serious mismatch between the areas and groups most affected by the Covid-related lockdown and the... Read More
If Bihar’s example is anything to go by simply repealing the APMC Act is not enough to benefit farmers. There is a need to move from notional to functional FPOs In the Covid-19 relief package finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has focused on a number of capacity building measures for the agriculture sector—such as the Agriculture... Read More
We may have to take recourse to some extraordinary sources to finance the exceptional spending needed to revive growth Policymakers have to decide if they want higher growth along with other pain points or a little less growth but also less pain that would have to be borne later on In my column last month... Read More
It’s less egalitarian than TV in delivering education. Net-based learning holds promise provided the digital ecosystem improves The NCAER Skills Report 2018 discussed the immense potential of online learning albeit as complementary to more traditional methods. In the current situation online education is turning out to be a substitute to traditional modes. Is India ready... Read More