Policy Forum

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Policy Forum is a space for analytical engagement with ideas, institutions, and policy practice. The section publishes reflective and evidence-based contributions that extend, question, or refine ongoing policy conversations through book reviews, article appraisals, and field-based observations. The focus is not commentary for its own sake, but advancing institutional understanding and policy design through disciplined analysis.

Showing 1-10 of 10 articles

[Book Review] Veena S Rao, India’s Undernutrition and Human Capital: Addressing the Roots, Routledge, 2026

Kaushalya Bajpayee, Jindal Global Law School, O. P. Jindal Global University

19 Aug 2026

“Persistent undernutrition is not merely a welfare or health problem, but a constraint on learning, productivity and India’s longer-term economic development.”

“The country has accumulated policies, schemes and institutions over several decades. The more difficult task is to address the structural and implementation deficits that prevent them from working together effectively for the households most at risk.”

"India's new 0.4 percent MDR is modest by international standards, yet its significance lies in how it changes who bears the cost of maintaining UPI."

[Inquiry & Insights] UPI's 0.4 Percent MDR: Who Pays for India's Digital Payments?

Savitha K L, Christ University, Bangalore; Gopikrishnan Annamalai, CHRIST University, Bangalore

16 Oct 2026

"When legal institutions cease to safeguard rights and instead become instruments of exclusion, they do more than restrict individual freedoms; they confer legitimacy, permanence and administrative authority on systems of oppression."

[Inquiry & Insights] How the Taliban Turned Law into an Instrument of Gender Oppression

Nitya Katiyar, National Law University Meghalaya; Drishti Gautam, National Law University Meghalaya

13 Jul 2026

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[Field Notes] Why Having Children Does Not Always Ensure Care in Old Age

Neethu Naik, Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Goa

30 Oct 2026

[Inquiry & Insights] Delhi’s Water Management Gap: From Treatment Capacity to Reliable Services

Rishita Dang, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR; Aryan Manna, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR

14 Sept 2026

[Inquiry & Insights] Why India Needs an Official Measure of Inequality of Opportunity

Yash Tayal, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR)

21 Aug 2026

[Field Notes] Why Research Rewards Safe Questions Over Novel Ones

Rewanth Raichooti, Council for Social Development

07 Aug 2026

[Inquiry & Insights] Beyond the 89 Percent: Rethinking How India Measures Women’s Empowerment

Sompalli Pranav Surya, IIT Tirupati; Jayavarma Addepalli, IIT Tirupati

04 Aug 2026

[Inquiry & Insights] Medical Innovation and Missing Middle in India's Healthcare

Kashvi Katiyar, CA Final programme

25 Jul 2026

[Field Notes] What DHARMA Reveals About Access to Policing in Eluru

K. Pratap Siva Kishore, Superintendent of Police, AP; B. Lakshmi Narayana, Office of the Superintendent of Police, AP

23 Jun 2026

[Field Notes] What SRIJAN's Field Experience Reveals About Women’s Role in Water Governance

Prarthana Lumba, SRIJAN; Stutilina Pal , SRIJAN

22 Jun 2026

[Field Notes] The Burden of Continuous Environmental Exposure on Delhi’s Informal Workers

Yatish Kumar, Indian Social Institute

20 Jun 2026

[Field Notes] The Coordination Challenge In India’s Intercity Mobility

Ayaan Jain, FareX Rides

18 Jun 2026

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