Working Papers

The partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 changed the sub-continent permanently, and eventually led to the birth of three sovereign countries. Each country has travelled its own unique trajectory, crafted its own political institutions, sought economic prosperity...

The paper seeks to understand (i) the role of National Health Mission (NHM) in defining/resetting health priorities in States and addressing horizontal inequalities; (ii) the constraints faced by States within the federal structure for delivering effective healthcare services; and (iii) the mecha...

This analysis attempts to address a pressing problem at the heart of India’s plans to combat extreme heat: finance. Indian Heat Action Plans (HAPs) contain a welcome diversity of adaptation solutions spanning many sectors, but generally fail to identify viable sources of public and private financ...

Background on National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) Air quality standards are primarily health-based standards that define the ambient concentration of air pollution to which the public can be exposed without suffering harm to their health. In India, the Central Pollu...

Air pollution is a pan-India problem, and whether viewed in terms of pollution sources or exposure, there is no reason to continue an urban-focus in air pollution mitigation measures. It is imperative for air quality governance in India to transition from a city-centric approach to an airshed app...

The statistical system of a country acts as its mirror. It generates the statistics that allow observers to see how well a country is performing on key socioeconomic parameters such as per capita income, inflation, poverty, life expectancy, and average years of schooling. In most countries, a sin...

In the context of a high level of dissatisfaction with the delivery of government services in India, this paper traces the evolution of policy regarding key actors in this process— frontline functionaries or street-level bureaucrats. Frontline functionaries form a special subset of the bureaucrac...

This paper analyses the structure and processes of field administration in India and matches these with the outcomes on the ground. It highlights features of the administrative structure, human resources, and organisational culture that result in the sub-optimal delivery of social services and po...

This paper explores the design of Indian regulatory agencies established post-liberalisation from an administrative perspective. Regulatory agencies were set up to replace state inefficiencies, and to discipline profligate state agencies, even as much as they were a response to state-market reorg...

Federalism in India is at a crossroads. Over the last three decades, India has undergone significant social, political, and economic transformations which have created new fault lines in India’s precarious federal compact. Economic liberalization and political decentralization have fundamentally ...

Ordinary people in rural Bihar and in Patna and Delhi have virtually no opportunity to be tested for a hidden talent, be it for athletics or singing or chess or mathematics or art. Not one of more than 800 young people we interviewed has ever competed at the national, state or district level in a...

Theorists of economic development have emphasized the importance of clear, legally guaranteed property rights in ensuring economic development. Legally enforceable rights over land are thought of as a solution to incentivize investment in land, ensure optimal use of resources and create the condi...

State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and their counterparts in union territories, the Pollution Control Committees (PCCs), are responsible for several key functions to curb air pollution. These include granting consents, setting emission and effluent standards, monitoring compliance of industry...

The Covid-19 pandemic proved to be a global disaster that took countless lives, many of whom were frontline functionaries deployed to contain this crisis. As a result, the Indian state, unlike before, had to acknowledge the risk that accompanied their workers in this crisis. They promised them va...

India is experiencing yet another power crisis. In the last week of April, the daily peak power shortage rose to 10,778 megawatt (MW). Power deficits reached 5% of overall supply at the national level, while a few states experienced steep deficits ranging up to 15%. To deal with the scarcity, dis...

India’s engagement in Glasgow, while storied and multi-faceted, also exposed faultlines in Indian climate politics. The faultlines in framing, policy, institutions, and diplomacy need to be addressed cogently if the country is to successfully negotiate the many transitions ahead.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a large-scale global experiment on work from home (WFH). WFH is expected to continue, albeit at a smaller scale, in the post-pandemic world. WFH is commonly considered to be an energy saving measure that can help reduce office travel related energy demand and energy u...

Administrative reforms of the civil services have seen renewed focus in the past few years with the announcement of initiatives such as Mission Karmayogi, changes to the foundation course for trainee officers of the All India Services, and efforts to induct lateral entrants into the bureaucracy. ...