Reports

Industrial Geography of Indian States: Comparing the Organized Manufacturing Sector of Maharashtra & Uttar Pradesh –  Background & Rationale Regional disparity in economic performance for a country like India, whose individual states fare larger than entire countries, is a truism. Debates abound whether these divergences are organically linked in the manner of ‘core’ and ‘periphery’ […]

Abstract The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS) is the world’s largest social protection programme (World Bank, 2012). Enacted in India in 2005, it guarantees 100 days of employment, in a year, to poor families, keeping the local government at the centre of the implementation of the program. The 73rd Amendment recognizes the village […]

Introduction At the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in August, human rights activist and environmentalist Joan Carling declared, “People are not sitting down; people are taking action. And women are at the forefront of these actions.” Her words highlight an often-overlooked truth in the fight against climate change: although women are significantly underrepresented […]

The government of India, in November 2022, announced that it would discontinue the Maulana Azad National Fellowship for students pursuing higher studies.  MANF, launched in 2009,aimed to provide financial assistance to students from six minority communities pursuing an M.Phil. or a PhD for five years. It was implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Since […]

Throughout India, there are several instances of women leaders at the margins- affecting change and driving leadership in critical policy and governance areas in their local communities. The SPRF Grassroots Women’s Tracker outlines a collection of such women, who have driven crucial policy changes from the bottom, in sectors such as education, local governance, sanitation, labour, livelihoods and justice.

PPP allows us to understand and make comparisons between two countries about the price of the same goods and services in both countries. Thus, a PPP analysis shows the price of the same goods and services in different economies, adjusted for parity. A high PPP implies that a basic set of essential goods and services […]

Abstract The paper delves into the persistent issue of manual scavenging in India. Manual scavenging, an abominable practice, is deeply rooted in the country’s societal fabric despite legislative efforts to eradicate it. This paper examines the socio-economic complexities sustained through the practice and highlights the loopholes in the present system that allow for continued exploitation […]

India is many things – among others, it is often critical to remind oneself that we speak about a subcontinent with heterogeneous and distinct identities, cultures, languages and priorities. Even as we come together as one people, we remain in many ways subject to far too many interpretations, hence often easily misunderstood. Unlike multiple other […]

Introduction The Indian pharmaceutical sector holds a significant position in the global pharmaceutical industry, ranking among the top providers of generic medicines globally. It stands as the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical industry in volume and the fourteenth-largest in value. In the previous year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised India’s recognition as “the global pharmacy” due […]

ABOUT THE REPORT India has focused considerably on improving its education system in recent years. With nearly 2.68 crore citizens being persons with disabilities, the education system is slowly pivoting to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. For instance, the New Education Policy 2020 makes several provisions to address the inequality of access to […]

ABSTRACT Tribal communities in India are some of the most vulnerable social groups despite having a special status guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. Being at the margins both in the demographic and socio-economic sense, they experience extreme inequalities, especially in their access to healthcare. This Issue Brief attempts to locate these tribal communities in the public […]

In 2017, the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) or POSHAN Abhiyan was launched by the government of India to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The mission was aimed at monitoring, supervising, setting targets, and guiding nutrition-related policies across ministries (PIB 2017). This was to be achieved by initially mapping all ongoing […]

During an annual academic event of Samadhan – a school for children with disabilities in Madangir village, Dakshinpuri, I met some children whose vision of the world challenged me to rethink my own. Six months later, in November 2018, when I approached the school to conduct a photography workshop for these children, I was allotted […]

In a two-part publication, SPRF looks at sustainability in the fashion industry. Watch our explainer video below.   The fashion industry has seen several cultural changes over the course of history, in line with larger social and political contexts. Currently, fast fashion brands hold a monopoly with consistent growth year after year. There are several […]