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India

A collection of 26 issues

A Pink Revolution in Indian Policymaking

The 2025 Union budget earmarks 8.86%* of total expenditure for gender-related programs (see MWCD). This central allocation is matched by an extraordinary expansion at the state level. For instance, over the last five years, more than 14 states have introduced women-centric cash transfer programs, reaching over 110 million women—

Not Eating the Free Lunch? The Puzzle of Unspent Allotted Money

"[T]he share of unspent money under the MPLAD scheme at the end of the tenure of the current Lok Sabha nearly doubled to 16 per cent compared to 8.7 per cent in the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19)." The Business Standard p.s. You can read the

Less Known Facts About Muslims in India

There are two main concerns about Indian Muslims. First, many fear that Indian Muslims are greatly behind other groups. The second, deeper concern relates to Muslim women. Many fear that sex gaps are much larger among Muslims than other groups. Let’s look at the facts. 1. Education: The literacy

From Living Instinctively to Living With History

Listening to my maternal grandparents narrate their experience of living with Muslims was confusing. According to them, Hindus and Muslims lived harmoniously. They also liked each other. Hindus and Muslims wouldn’t eat at each other’s houses or might use separate utensils, but that had less to do with

Political Macroeconomics

Look, Ma, I Connected Some Dots! In late 2019, in a lecture at the Watson Center at Brown University, Raghuram Rajan spoke about the challenges facing the Indian economy. While discussing the trends in growth in the Indian economy (I have linked to the relevant section in the video, see

No Shit! Open Defecation in India

On Oct. 2nd, 2019, on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday, and just five years after the launch of the Swachh Bharat Campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared India ODF. The 2018-2019 Annual Sanitation Survey corroborates the progress: Reducing open defecation matters because it can reduce child mortality and stunting. For

Some Facts About Indian Polling Stations

Of the 748,584 polling stations for which we have self-reported data on building conditions, nearly 24% report having Internet. A similar number report having “Landline Telephone/Fax Connection.” 97.7% report having toilets for men and women. 2.6% report being in a “dilapidated or dangerous” building. 93.2%

Missing Women on the Streets of Delhi

In 1990, Amartya Sen estimated that more than 100 million women were missing in South and West Asia and China. His NYRB article shed light on sex discrimination in parts of Asia, highlighting, among other things, pathologies like sex-selective abortion, biases in nutrition, healthcare, and schooling. We aim to extend

Rape in India

According to crime reports, in India, rape is about 15 times less common than in the US. A variety of concerns apply. For one, the definition of rape varies considerably. But differences aren’t always in the expected direction. For instance, Indian Penal Code considers sex under the following circumstance