Category: public policy

Day 61: New normal and public policy

24/05/2020 Day 61  As cases continue to rise Indian states are preparing to lift the lockdown. Right now, it is a soup of rules and movement restrictions. Karnataka has imposed a quarantine rule on those arriving in the state. They will have to undergo seven days of institutional and seven days of home quarantine. Over … Continue reading Day 61: New normal and public policy →

Day 37: Law and the Pandemic

30/04/2020 Day 37 I read Prof Baxi’s piece ‘Emerging Laws & Jurisprudence’ dwelling into ‘the exercise of the suo motu jurisdiction by courts’ in India’s fight against Covid-19. As always, his writing is a mixed bag. He places legal researchers ‘among the frontline of combatants against a sinister global pandemic’. Surely that would stand true … Continue reading Day 37: Law and the Pandemic →

Day 24: Thinking about trade offs & public policy

17/04/2020 Day 24 The days have begun to lose their sharp boundaries defined by everyday change and variety. Today is no different than yesterday - wake up, prepare for nowhere, coffee, news, cook meals, a couple of phone calls, webinars via zoom, coffee, dinner and sleep. This can be copy pasted for almost every day … Continue reading Day 24: Thinking about trade offs & public policy →

India’s Containment Plan for Covid-19: Institutions & Functions

India's political and administrative structure is large and complex. Over the last couple of days, I have been thinking about the institutional structure that the Union government has designed and deployed to control coronavirus' spread in its 29 states with 736 districts and over 650,000 villages. These numbers are overwhelming considering the rapidity with which … Continue reading India’s Containment Plan for Covid-19: Institutions & Functions →

Day 11: A Teachable Moment

04/04/2020 Day 11 Looking at Covid-19 response in India and the developing world over the past few weeks Gulzar Natrajan writes that ‘this is a teachable moment.’ He suggests that ‘the response of governments across developing countries to Covid 19 should count as an example of triumph of theoretical knowledge over practical wisdom.’ In the … Continue reading Day 11: A Teachable Moment →

A term as Teaching Assistant

In June, 2018 I finished assisting on a course on Public Finance for master degree students at my home institution - National Law School. Time spent on delivering this course has been a useful opportunity to observe higher education learning and teaching. This post is to gather key takeaways from this engagement. Moreover, it seems … Continue reading A term as Teaching Assistant →

[Policy Thinking]: A Flowchart

In the type of work we do in our consulting practice - research, evaluation and advisory, there is seldom time to develop theoretical insights, during the preparatory phase or during an ongoing work. It helps us to have (relatively) quick process flows; application oriented concepts and most importantly actionable insights. This is where one cannot … Continue reading [Policy Thinking]: A Flowchart →

Economics, Development & Policy Takeaways, 2017

It has been an extraordinary year in academic realm, especially in public policy and economics. This is the year when economics got realistic, if one regards the annual Nobel Prize in Economics as a defining moment in economics research. Richard Thaler won it for for showing how the human traits of 'limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of … Continue reading Economics, Development & Policy Takeaways, 2017 →