Independent Research and Policy Advocacy

Publications

Blogs

We produce blogs to discuss new research findings, ongoing projects, and even personal reflections on the research process. Our blogs are written for a variety of audiences, including other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, financial service providers, grassroots organizations, impact investors and the public. The format is simple and easy to grasp. The language is straightforward, and the tone is non-academic. Our blogs can be of varying lengths. We choose to write a blog when we don’t want to do a full- fledged study or follow a rigorous research process. Blogs may contain opinions and they can also be based on experiences. Some of our blogs may just share some observations, learnings, or challenges.

Our Work

December 29, 2016 | Dvara Research

As the year comes to a close, we put together the top 5 developments that we believe have shaped the Indian financial system in 2016.

By Dvara Research
December 23, 2016 | Dvara Research

Earlier this week, the Secretary for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) confirmed that MeitY is set to review the legal framework for digital payments and cybersecurity

By Bhusan Jatania
December 10, 2016 | Dvara Research

In this blog post we share an interview with Avinash Celestine & Avinash Singh, co-founders of How India Lives. Covering an array of topics, they share their experiences and thoughts on handling public data and the nuances of data visualisation that has to be kept in mind when dealing with complex datasets.

By Dvara Research
November 7, 2016 | Dvara Research

In the below infograph we highlight the recommendations from IFMR Finance Foundation’s latest research note “Modernisation of India’s Banking Sector”.

By Dvara Research
October 26, 2016 | Dvara Research

RBI recently released the operating guidelines for the Small Finance banks and Payments Banks on October 6, 2016. To take stock of these, we have put together a brief comparison of the regulatory requirements of these banks against those for universal banks.

By Madhu Srinivas
October 3, 2016 | Dvara Research

For the first time, the majority of Indian women have been financially included. Fresh data show that the proportion of Indian women with individual accounts in formal financial institutions (primarily banks) reached 61% in 2015, a sharp increase from 48% in 2014, lagging men by only eight percentage points.

By Bindu Ananth, Amy Jensen Mowl
September 30, 2016 | Dvara Research

Taking a significant step towards curbing illegal collection of deposits by unauthorized and illegal entities, RBI recently set up a website named 'Sachet' (Alert).

By Monami Dasgupta
September 26, 2016 | Dvara Research

Both financial inclusion and financial stability are high on international policy makers’ agenda. For instance, the G-20 has called for global commitments to both advancing financial inclusion (the Maya Declaration and the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion) and enhancing financial stability (the Financial Stability Board, Basel III Implementation, and other regulatory reforms).

By Dr. Martin Melecky
September 18, 2016 | Dvara Research

Why is malnutrition in India’s central belt, which includes the state of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, so high and so persistent despite relatively high rates of income growth?

By Dr. Anjini Kochar
August 17, 2016 | Dvara Research

There has been a strong national imperative to move towards a “cashless” economy in India[1]. Despite a substantive impetus from public and private sector forces, the adoption and use of digital modes of payment in the country remains paltry[

By Rachit Khaitan, Nishanth Kumar