The novel coronavirus pandemic has cast a long shadow of financial uncertainty for both the Centre and states. The impact of the pandemic on the economy and the lives of the economically and socially disadvantaged requires a sizeable government funding exercise to try and limit the ripple effects of the pandemic. Livelihoods need to be… Continue reading State of Public Finance in India during COVID-19
The Union government proposed India’s first National Urban Policy (NUP) framework in March 2018. The rationale behind the draft NUP was to frame a comprehensive national policy for India’s plans to facilitate sustainable and inclusive urbanisation. As COVID-19 tightens its grip on Indian cities and reveals fault lines in the structures of governance, the details… Continue reading COVID-19, Urbanisation and the Role of the Draft NUP for India’s Way Forward
Introduction “Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down or our heads from a blue sky.” – Albert Camus (The Plague, 1948) The world today is grappling with global COVID-19 public health emergency and its social, economic and… Continue reading Regulations and COVID-19 Response: Concerns in the Indian context
The Socratic Paradox has presented itself to the world once again. If there is one thing we know for certain about COVID-19 at this point in time, it is that we don’t know anything for certain. This uncertainty around the absolute knowledge is necessary to establish upfront since it ideally opens us up to the fact that… Continue reading India and Covid-19: Economic Challenges, Impact and Policy
In speeches, dialogues, conversations and TV commentaries, the usage of war metaphors to describe anything related to the COVID-19 pandemic are being deployed. These include “war cabinet” and, implicitly, “threat.”[i],[ii]This assists in projecting a perception of the extraordinary circumstances that are facing our reality today. Hundreds of millions cannot get out of their homes in… Continue reading COVID 19 and War Terminology of World Leaders
In India, the labor market in the healthcare sector runs in acute supply shortage. The doctor-patient ratio is 1:1248 and there are only 1.5 nurses available per thousand patients. Public health capacity is inadequate and mostly asymmetrically distributed across states. While there are 38.3 government hospitals for a million people in Kerala, there are only… Continue reading Tackling COVID-19: The Need for Effective Capacity Utilisation of Health Professionals
The establishment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), a four-star general, in India’s military apparatus is poised to bring in much required internal reforms i.e. corroborating the tri-services to eventually operate as theatre commands where the Army, Navy and Air Force would operate under a single 3-star general. The corollary effect of this establishment… Continue reading Chief of Defence Staff: Need of the hour for the forces and the Industry
On 8th August, 2019, ISPP Public Policy Scholars got the opportunity to listen and interact with renowned behaviour economist and Harvard Professor, Professor Cass Robert Sunstein. Professor Sunstein was on a trip to India to initiate the “Nudge‟ unit at NITI Aayog. Put simply, a “nudge‟ is a subtle push for an individual to follow… Continue reading “On Freedom” – a public lecture by Dr. Cass R. Sunstein
‘Observing’ is a luxury in today’s fast paced times – a luxury, like many other taken-for-granted tasks we partook-in some years back. The momentum of today’s age has left the observers in oblivion; well, that is to say, by and largely. To add to the above, it is not every day that one is offered… Continue reading Life’s policy: observe and learn
The agricultural sector is considered to be the driving force of almost all economies across the world. It plays a prominent role in fulfilling the needs of mankind in terms of food supply and providing raw materials for industries. In the Indian context, it is the primary source of livelihood for rural people engaging 60% of… Continue reading Doubling of Farmers’ Income by 2025: “New” Policy Reforms
