Social Sector Investments in Budget 2016 No Different Than Previous Year

Arun Jaitley’s Budget was high of rhetoric, but this doesn’t quite add up to a clear vision and narrative for social policy. Overall, social sector expenditure, excluding rural development, has indeed increased – by 6%. The increases are marginal, especially if we compare 2014-15 revised estimates (RE) with the current budgeted estimates (BE).

Swachh Bharat Mission’s Success Is Greatly Exaggerated

October 2, 2016 marked the second anniversary of the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) – an event that most will remember for the photo-ops of the Prime Minister sweeping the streets of Lutyens Delhi. For those of us who have been following sanitation policy, this photo-op was, in fact, a watershed moment. It marked the first time that an Indian Prime Minister had chosen to stake his political capital on an issue as unglamorous and complex as sanitation. This political moment was an opportunity that most sanitation enthusiasts had been waiting for.

So how well has the Prime Minister been able to convert this high-voltage sanitation campaign into sustained action on the ground? Read this article for more.

Part 2: Education reform and frontline administrators: A case study from Bihar

The frontline administration in India is infamous for corruption and patronage, indifference towards citizens, low effort and high absenteeism. This blog reports findings from a year-long qualitative study on frontline education administrators in Bihar.

Part 1 captured perspectives of frontline administrators on their role in the education hierarchy and how organisational design and culture shapes everyday behaviour. This part offers insights into how the frontline responds to reform efforts, and how this impacts institutionalisation and scaling up of reforms.

Part 1: Education reform and frontline administrators: A case study from Bihar

The frontline administration in India is infamous for corruption and patronage, indifference towards citizens, low effort and high absenteeism. This blog reports findings from a year-long qualitative study on frontline education administrators in Bihar. It captures perspectives of frontline administrators on their role in the education hierarchy and how organisational design and culture shape everyday behaviour.