SPRF
During India’s first World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the dawn of the ‘Orange Economy.’ He highlighted how creators—from Guwahati musicians and Kochi podcasters to Bengaluru game designers and Punjabi filmmakers—are powering India’s march towards a $5 trillion economy. The orange economy, also known as the […]
1. Introduction Public Policy, most laconically, is defined as “whatever governments choose to do or not to do” (Chakravarty & Sanyal, 2017, p. 4). The recently released draft national labour and employment policy, the Shram Shakti Niti, makes for an interesting case study on why “not doing something” is an equally, if not more important […]
Fueling growth in an economy primarily requires investments, whether for technology, infrastructure, or government interventions. The global financial system has evolved significantly: from the use of cash and traditional banking tools such as cheques and demand drafts, to more advanced systems like digital payments (e.g., UPI), and more recently, toward decentralized technologies like cryptocurrencies. While […]
What is the purpose of a policy that does not resonate with the realities of the people it is made for? The two faces of Delhi are evident to anyone who has found themselves stuck in the city’s traffic. On one hand, there are glossy shopping malls and wide roads that promise a ‘world-class’ city. […]
Introduction The Monsoon Session of Parliament in 2025 revisited pivotal concerns at the intersection of data governance, electoral representation, as well as citizen rights, although indirectly. This year’s ‘Special Intensive Revision (SIR)’ of electoral rolls in Bihar represents a little more than an administrative exercise—it has become quite a litmus test for how the world’s […]
Abstract Despite constitutional guarantees and targeted policies like the Right to Education (RTE) Act, a significant number of children in India remain out of school, either as dropouts or never enrolled, particularly among socioeconomically and geographically marginalised populations. This article examines the structural and socioeconomic factors that influence out-of-school children in Keonjhar district, Odisha, where […]
Introduction Perhaps nothing exemplifies the delicate balances that are crucial for successful growth of any industrial sector than the Indian drone industry, today. Caught between the disruptions and innovations of the fourth industrial revolution, risk and possibilities of an emerging nation in an increasingly globalizing world, policy regulation and liberalization, and, economic growth and inclusion—the […]
Introduction As India grapples with leveraging its manufacturing prowess to fuel its growth story with challenges emerging on the fronts of international trade, a closing demographic window, concerns of premature deindustrialization, etc., an analysis of what has been called as her de facto Industrial Policy—Production Linked Incentives, announced in 2020—becomes imperative (Dhar, 2024). Launched to […]
1. Introduction As India witnessed another major general strike in July, allegedly consisting of 25 crore workers, called by the leading central trade unions in pursuance of a number of demands against the central and state governments, a concern over their ‘presence’, and more so of the efficacy of their ‘tactics’ is renewed (The Wire […]
Introduction Time-use patterns provide a crucial lens to assess how workers divide their time between paid work, unpaid responsibilities, education, and leisure. It can tell us something beyond wages, and help us understand the worker not merely as the seller of labour. It can give cues to situate the worker beyond an entity of the […]