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

June 5, 2014 | Dvara Research

This post is the first in a series on Social Security for the Indian Unorganised Sector.

By Vishnu Prasad
May 26, 2014 | Dvara Research

The investment requirement of urban infrastructure over the next 20 years is estimated by the Isher Ahluwalia Committee to be in the region of Rs. 40 lakh crore.

By Dvara Research
April 29, 2014 | Dvara Research

Financial inclusion and financial deepening have an important role to play in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty and inequality, while mitigating systemic risk and maintaining financial stability.

By Rachit Khaitan
April 21, 2014 | Dvara Research

Microfinance has long been seen by many as a panacea for fighting poverty by providing access to financial services to low-income population considered unbankable by the traditional financial system.

By Dr. Santadarshan Sadhu, Viswanath Pingali
April 1, 2014 | Dvara Research

Digital currencies have generated substantial curiosity over the last year, particularly post the favourable1 hearing that Bitcoin, a prominent digital currency2, received at the US Capitol hill in November 2013.

By Ravi Saraogi
March 25, 2014 | Dvara Research

The current regulatory approach to customer protection in India can be divided into two complementary ex-ante approaches- mandated information disclosure, and financial literacy and education.

By Vishnu Prasad
March 16, 2014 | Dvara Research

The Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households (CCFS) seeks the creation of an ecosystem of different types of institutions, each with their choice of specialisation such that there would be multiple partnerships between these specialists.

March 12, 2014 | Dvara Research

Continuing from an earlier post, this post highlights the CCFS recommendations around various bank and non-bank channels that will serve to deliver a ubiquitous payments network and universal access to savings.

By Rachit Khaitan
March 9, 2014 | Dvara Research

The recently released volume on urbanisation titled “Urbanisation in India” edited by Dr. Isher Ahluwalia, Dr. Ravi Kanbur and Dr. P. K. Mohanty, contains a chapter authored by Vikram Kapur, Commissioner of Chennai, and me, dealing with the practice of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in urban infrastructure in India.

By Anand Sahasranaman
March 3, 2014 | Dvara Research

The Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households (CCFS) envisions the following: By January 1, 2016 each Indian resident, above the age of 18 years, would have an individual, full-service, safe, and secure electronic bank account.

By Rachit Khaitan