Research >> Government programs

Persistence of solid fuel use in rural north India (published paper)
- Topics: Demography, Gender, Government programs, Pollution
Survey evidence from rural North India showing persistent solid fuel use despite increases in liquefied petroleum gas ownership is presented. Although three-quarters of survey households in these states had LPG, almost all also had a stove that uses solid fuels....Read More..

Persistence of solid fuel use despite increases in LPG ownership: New survey evidence from rural north India (working paper)
- Topics: Demography, Gender, Government programs, Pollution
Solid fuel use is an important contributor to air pollution and disease burden in India. We present survey evidence documenting LPG ownership and cooking fuel use in rural north India. LPG ownership has increased rapidly, substantially driven by the Ujjwala...Read More..

Coercion, construction, and ’ODF paper pe’: The Swachh Bharat Mission, according to local government officials
- Topics: Government programs, Sanitation
This article draws upon 156 qualitative interviews conducted with the village and block-level officials in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as on new quantitative survey data, to answer these questions. It finds that local officials used...Read More..

Understanding open defecation in rural India: Untouchability, pollution, and latrine pits
- Topics: Caste, Child health, Government programs, Sanitation, Social inequality
Open defecation in rural India presents a puzzle: India has far higher open defecation rates than other developing regions where people are poorer, literacy rates are lower, and water is more scarce. Because open defecation has terrible consequences for health,...Read More..

Underweight & pregnant: Maternity entitlements and weight gain during pregnancy
- Topics: Child health, Gender, Government programs, Maternal health
Poor maternal nutrition in India is a major cause for concern. The depth of India's maternal nutrition problems is evident in its high neonatal mortality, widespread underweight pre-pregnancy, low weight gain during pregnancy, and high rates of maternal anemia. Poor...Read More..

Labor Market Effects of Social Programs: Evidence from India’s Employment Guarantee
- Topics: Employment, Government programs, Social inequality
We estimate the effect of a large workfare program in India on private employment and wages by comparing trends in districts that received the program earlier relative to that received it later. Our results suggest that public sector hiring crowds...Read More..

Short-term Migration and Rural Workfare Programs: Evidence from India
- Topics: Employment, Government programs, Migration
We study the effect of a large rural public works program on short-term migration from rural to urban areas in India. Using cross-state variation in public employment provision for identification, we find that participation to the program significantly reduces short-term...Read More..

Costs and Consequences of a Cash Transfer for Hospital Births in a Rural District of Uttar Pradesh, India
- Topics: Child health, Government programs, Maternal health
The Janani Suraksha Yojana, India’s “safe motherhood program,” is a conditional cash transfer to encourage women to give birth in health facilities. Despite the program’s apparent success increasing facility-based births, quantitative evaluations have not found corresponding improvements in health outcomes....Read More..

Even compared with neighbouring countries, latrine use is especially uncommon in India. How might caste – historically associated with sanitation inequality – interact with government sanitation policy?Using data from Rajasthan state, we investigate the effect of caste-based reservations for village chairmen...Read More..

Policy Lessons from the Implementation of India’s Total Sanitation Campaign
- Topics: Child health, Government programs, Sanitation
Ending widespread open defecation and pursuing feasible methods of safe excreta disposal must be the top policy priorities for India. This paper draws policy lessons from the first 10 years of latrine construction under India’s Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), which...Read More..

Old-age pension scheme in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh
- Topics: Demography, Government programs, Social inequality
A survey of the functioning of the National Old-Age Pension Scheme in two districts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh reveals that beneficiaries have difficulties in accessing the banking system and face inordinate delays in receiving their meagre pensions. Yet, the scheme functions as an important provider...Read More..

Effects of Rural Sanitation on Infant Mortality and Human Capital: Evidence from India’s Total Sanitation Campaign
Over a billion people worldwide defecate openly without a toilet or latrine, with profound health consequences: over two million children under 5 die from diarrheal disease each year; chronic infection prevents surviving children from reaching human capital potentials. Although it...Read More..

Estimating Leakages in India’s Employment Guarantee Using Household Survey Data
- Topics: Employment, Government programs
We compare the administrative data on the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) with the estimates of public works employment from a large-scale survey undertaken by India's National Sample Survey Office. A widely held concern...Read More..