Columnists

Sonalde Desai

The writer is professor of sociology, University of Maryland and professor and centre director NCAER-National Data Innovation Centre.

Why China’s about-turn shows restrictive population policy doesn’t work

Sat, Jun 05, 2021

India’s policy must move beyond the language of the past that restricts maternity leave and election eligibility

Make room for women in the new normal

Tue, Mar 09, 2021

The pandemic may have limited our ability to connect with the external world, but for several Indian women, isolation isn’t unfamiliar or new

Reluctance to take Covid-19 vaccines could hinder achieving herd immunity sooner

Thu, Jan 28, 2021

The beginning of the vaccination programme suggests that the end is in sight. How quickly we reach the goal post depends on how well prepared we are as we enter the race.

A social registry linking Aadhaar to residence info can target aid to the vulnerable during a pandemic

Sat, Nov 28, 2020

Aadhaar linkages of individuals and bank accounts already exist. If residential information in the Aadhaar database can be efficiently structured, this would allow for geographic targeting.

Economic policy needs to address those who have seen the greatest distress during lockdown

Tue, Oct 20, 2020

The urban poor is still finding it difficult to return to work. Targeting social safety nets towards them is necessary as the economy struggles to recover.

PM-KISAN is not reaching all farmer households as intended

Mon, Aug 03, 2020

Given this uncertainty over the reach of PM-KISAN and its targeting, the relevance of the scheme needs to be carefully evaluated during this period.

Telephone survey shows high understanding of social distancing, support for lockdown

Mon, Apr 20, 2020

When asked about how many people they had come in contact with outside the house over the preceding 24 hours, over 50 per cent responded that they had not come in contact with anyone.

Decline in women work participation rates can be traced to poor quality of data collection processes

Tue, Mar 17, 2020

In our concern with ostensibly declining women’s work participation, we have missed out on identifying sectors from which women are excluded and more importantly, in which women are included. It may be time for us to count women’s work rather than women workers.