Policy Briefs & Reports

Recognising the role of cities as catalysts for economic progress, India has placed technology adoption at the heart of governance transformations via its Smart Cities Mission (SCM). Moreover, India’s adoption of smart city solutions has been unique in also responding to the country’s diverse urb...

The 3rd edition of the Compendium published by UN Habitat is a compilation of 17 case studies to show case examples on urban-rural linkages from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Thematically, it covers mobility, heritage and culture, basic services, technology, ecosystems, governance, urb...

Over the last two decades, the world has witnessed a proliferation of digital platforms and the emergence of an ecosystem of digital work. In a world where evolving technology is constantly improving the efficiency of communication and production, the platform economy is reinventing the world of ...

There has been a strong focus on improving the sanitation situation in the last decade in India due to the Government of India’s flagship program called Swachh Bharat Mission. In the last decade, the country witnessed an increase in the number of toilets, Sewer Treatment Plants and Faecal Sludge ...

Entrenched gender biases and injustices in the coal political economy cannot be wished away with the ongoing shift from coal to renewable energy. Rather, the energy transition must seek to unwind these entrenched patterns in the 20th century energy system while creating an equal role for and part...

In April 2017, Meghalaya enacted the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017. The Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency (MSSAT) is responsible for implementing the Act. This legislation is the first of its kind in the country. This policy note...

India has made considerable physical progress towards infrastructure creation under various national water and sanitation programme, yet the pandemic in 2020 further deepened WASH inequities for the urban poor. Evidence on the pandemic has demonstrated that community-based organisations (CBOs) pl...

What are heat action plans (HAPs)? HAPs are India’s primary policy response to economically damaging and life threatening heatwaves. They prescribe a variety of preparatory activities, disaster responses, and post-heatwave response measures across state, district, and city gover...

Using government data about the state of Rajasthan, this brief highlights: Trends in finances, including Grants-in-Aid and Rajasthan’s own sources of revenue, and Trends in social sector expenditure of the state.

Over the last few years, India has been implementing several nutrition interventions as part of its national strategy to address malnutrition and associated risks. These include nutrition-specific interventions that address immediate determinants of nutritional status, such as the provision of fo...

Despite several efforts, a survey in 2018 ranked India as the most dangerous country for women. The Government of India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has several schemes, policies, and legislations, on women’s safety and empowerment. In 2021, MWCD’s key umbrella scheme of Mi...

This study examines four key reform policies and programs of the Indian education system: DPEP (1994), SSA (2000), RTE (2010) and NEP (2020). Each of these has a rich and nuanced body of research to which our study contributes a unique tracing of the key ideas, debates, and stakeholders. This lon...

In the 15 years that have gone by, India has seen a significant transition in the social sector, and lived through a pandemic. At the Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research, we have tracked the provision of welfare services and entitlements since 2008, in-step with the country’s ev...

The National Programme of PM POSHAN, previously known as the National Scheme for Mid-Day Meals in schools (MDM), is a scheme to provide one hot cooked meal in government and government-aided schools, with an aim to improve the nutritional status of students. This brief reports on trends for PM...

This brief reports on two maternity benefit schemes of the Government of India (GoI): a) Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) provides partial wage compensation to improve health-seeking behaviour of pregnant women and lactating mothers for two live births; and b) Janani Suraksha Yojan...

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is Government of India’s (GoI’s) flagship scheme to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household that demands work. Using government reported data, this brief reports on...

In Financial Year (FY) 2021-22, the Government of India (GoI) restructured the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, als...

Food Subsidy is provided by the Government of India (GoI) for the supply and distribution of foodgrains and other essential commodities. With the passing of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013, nutritional security became a right. Under the Act, adequate quantities of quality food at...