Policy Briefs & Reports

Large parts of the world, irrespective of their level of economic development, are at the cusp of severe environmental crises. In these regions, the operations of extractive projects such as large scale plantations, mining and industrial development have negated or worsened the economic, social a...

This report provides concise exposition of the Malaysian urban wastewater management under the country’s existing primary federal environmental legislation. The report gathers essential information from different authorities that can be of use by policy-makers in the efforts of improving the exis...

The discourses on rural and urban spaces in India in the context of physical infrastructure have divulged their inherent characteristic differences. However, given the trends of urbanisation in India there has been a paradigm shift in rural – urban continuum manifested in, amongst many things, pl...

Human trafficking, a form of organized crime that extends across borders, covers various forms of human rights violations, ranging from commercial sexual exploitation to forced labour and organ donation. Over the years it has taken on more complex and diverse forms making it necessary to reform l...

Bangladesh as one of India’s immediate neighbour holds strategic and economic importance for India. A strong India-Bangladesh relationship is important to promote regional stability, enhance India’s connectivity with East Asia and bring economic benefits to India’s landlocked Northeastern region....

A problem can occur, no matter where we live, pass by everyday or cross occasionally. One could be living next to an industrial site which is polluting the nearby river, a power plant which is dumping fly ash on an agricultural field or a beach where the municipality is dumping the town’s solid w...

In Delhi, as in many other Indian cities, millions of men, women and children who live in slums and informal settlements haveto daily confront the lack of adequate sanitation facilities. These sanitation inequalities have a greater impact on the health and socioeconomic status of women and girls ...

Advances in the biotech sector are geared to transform existing ethical assumptions, while unravelling a host of products and services that can benefit humankind. The tradeoffs involved across various sub-verticals, including biodiversity exploration, gene editing, and genetically modified food s...

In December 2013, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act (“the Act”) was notified by the Central Government. The Act is a Parliamentary law, binding on all states. While an earlier 1993 law prohibited the employment of manual scavengers and construction of...

This report describes the status of implementation of the constitutional mandate under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (Section 12(1)(c)) for private unaided schools (non-minority) and special category schools to keep aside at least 25 per cent of their seats for childr...

Indian cities are crucial to the response to climate change. As the bulk of their infrastructure is yet to be built, their current decisions can lock-in, or lock-out, inclusive and climate resilient forms. We examine the case study of Rajkot to highlight how cities can use existing governance arr...

India is the youngest country amongst the BRICS. It is estimated that by 2020 the working age population in India would be about 592 million, second to that of China’s (776 million). Theorised in terms of the ‘youth bulge’ or ‘demographic dividend’, this holds out prospects as well as challenges ...

Malaysia is one of the countries in the world to have emerged as leaders in septage management for sanitation improvement. However, this journey witnessed various changes and amendments in the Constitution, policies, Acts and operational mechanisms. India undoubtedly faces the challenge to addres...

PAISA (Planning, Allocations and Expenditures, Institutions Studies in Accountability) is Accountability Initiative’s (AI) flagship research programme. The research focuses on making government process: planning, decision-making and fund flows in key social sector schemes transparent. Under th...

The National Programme of Mid-Day Meals (MDM) in School scheme is Government of India’s (GoI’s) flagship school-based feeding programme aimed at improving the nutritional status of students and promoting the universalisation of elementary education. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, ...

A key driver of ambition envisioned in the Paris package is a “facilitative dialogue” among parties in 2018. This dialogue is mandated to take stock of the collective efforts of parties toward the long-term goal set out in Article 4.1, and is intended to inform the preparation of the next round o...

This report has been obtained from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India in response to an RTI request (application number - MOTLA/R/2016/80065) filed by CPR Land Rights Initiative.