The World Bank’s State of Social Protection Report: Context matters, but in what ways?
In early April, the World Bank published its State of Social Protection report (2025), earlier known as the ‘State of Social Safety Nets’ series. These reports use global-level data about social protection programs to reflect on trends in social security and to ascertain future requirements of social security.
Summary of the RBI FREE AI Committee Report
In the first blog of this series of two, we break down (i) the Committee’s methodology, (ii) key insights on the current state of AI adoption, (iii) FREE AI Framework and (iv) its recommendations.
From Periodic to Perpetual – Rethinking the process of KYC
The objective of this blog is to articulate the scope and relevance of various blended finance instruments in advancing access to suitable credit for nano entrepreneurs.
Policy Research vs Academic Research
The two worlds of policy research and academic research (in economics) sometimes do intersect, but for the most part, they appear to me to be quite different arenas of inquiry, with different epistemologies and types of truth claims. This blog is about those differences as I see them, having worked in both domains.
Financing the Unseen: Blended Finance for Nano Enterprises
The objective of this blog is to articulate the scope and relevance of various blended finance instruments in advancing access to suitable credit for nano entrepreneurs.
Understanding CMIE-CPHS Data: A handbook
This document offers a guide to understanding and using CPHS data, focusing on its stratified multi-stage sampling design, weighting methodology, and operationalisation in statistical analysis.
Towards Customer-Centric KYC: RBI’s 2025 Amendments from a Financial Inclusion Lens
In this blog post, we analyse the changes in the direction and weigh them through the lens of customer protection and long-term sustainability. We also offer suggestions on streamlining the KYC updation (re-KYC) exercise without adding to systemic risks.
Response to the Department of Post’s DHRUVA Policy Document
In this document, we present our response to the policy document on DHRUVA (Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address): The Digital Address DPI, hereafter referred to as the ‘policy document’, published by the Department of Posts in May 2025.
Comments to the Consultation Paper on Guidelines for Responsible Usage of AI/ML In Indian Securities Markets, dated 20 June 2025
The Consultation Paper sets out the landscape of use cases of AI prevalent in the Indian Securities Market.
Stages of Exclusion in Rajasthan’s Mukhyamantri Ayushman Aarogya Yojana: Findings from a Citizen Survey
The survey was conducted between March and April of this year in partnership with Gram Vaani, a social technology company, in seven districts of Rajasthan: Ajmer, Alwar, Bharatpur, Bundi, Dausa, Deeg, and Jaipur.
