Sponsor/s: Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
Project Director/s: Prof. Alakh Sharma, Dr. Balwant Mehta, Dr. Sunil Kumar

The survey aims to provide a realistic estimate of beggars in various districts of NCT Delhi, which will facilitate in formulation of policies and implementation plan of schemes or programme for rehabilitation of beggars in the state. The main objectives of the study are: to estimate the number of beggars across different districts/geographic locations; to provide a profile of beggars across age groups and gender; to prepare a beggars profile in forms of various characteristics such as with or without family; disability, geographical locations, activity before begging etc. and to provide a broad framework of the magnitude and nature of implementation plan for the rehabilitation of beggar. The survey of beggars is being conducted in all the 11 districts and 33 sub‐divisions of Delhi. A census of beggars across all the districts in Delhi is being conducted to identify and give the count of beggars’ location wise within the District. The study adopts a well‐ structured design to achieve the objective of estimation of the prevalence of beggars in Delhi. The study is based on primary survey and the information will be collected through a structured
Questionnaire prepared in consultation with the Department of Social Welfare, Government of NCT of Delhi.
Considering this, the study covered four objectives:

1. To estimate the number of ‘persons engaged in begging’ across different districts/geographic locations.
2. To provide a profile of such people across age groups and gender.
3. To prepare a profile of ‘persons engaged in begging’ in forms of various characteristics such as with or without family; disability, geographical locations, activity before begging etc.
4. To provide a broad framework of the magnitude and nature of the implementation plan for the rehabilitation of ‘persons engaged in begging’.

A semi‐structured questionnaire, consisting of closed and open‐ended questions was developed to collect field‐level information across the 11 districts of Delhi including North, North‐ East, North‐ West, West, South, South‐ West, South‐East, New‐Delhi, Central, Shahdara and East. To supplement field‐level data, key informant interviews with stakeholders and case studies were also undertaken to understand the situation in‐depth.

Sponsor/s: IGC and Monash University
Project Director/s: Prof. Alakh SharmaDr. Dr.Sunil Mishra, Dr. Swati Dutta

The objective of the study is to generate rapid survey‐based information to assess both the differentiated economic impact of the pandemic as well as support received by rural households in Bihar. While the Covid‐19 case load is concentrated in urban areas, the suppression measures have potentially deep though under‐investigated economic impacts on rural households through a range of channels. Similarly, while the announced relief measures cater to rural populations, little is known about actual delivery on the ground, especially in environments characterized limited and varied implantation capacity such as in Bihar. The project is a modest though systematic attempt to fill this gap, with an ultimate view to guiding and refining public policy response in the short‐to‐medium term focusing in particular on poor households. The information is also gathered with a view to anticipating implementation challenges and potential means of incentivizing households for future initiatives such as a prospective mass vaccination campaign once a vaccine for Covid‐19 becomes available.

The project aims to generate rapid survey‐based information to assess both the differentiated economic impact of the pandemic as well as support received by rural households in Bihar. The study is a joint collaboration between the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES), Monash University, and the Institute for Human Development (IHD).

Primary data is being collected through phone interviews from a sample of about 1300 rural households in seven districts of Bihar focusing on two key areas: (i) impact of the pandemic on livelihoods since the lockdown, and (ii) support received by households from government and non‐government sources. The chosen sample makes use of past surveys conducted by the Institute of Human Development (IHD) with these households, most recently in 2016‐17. The sample follows a stratified random sample design with stratification based on cluster analysis of districts at different levels of development to ensure representativeness at the state level.

The gathered data will be analysed for differentiated impact across households though multiple channels while also documenting the actual reach of a variety of support and relief measures. The analysis will also make use of baseline data for these households from the 2016‐17 survey.

Sponsor/s : The World Bank
Project Director/s : Dr. Bhim Reddy
Co-Project Director : Dr. Tanuka Endow

Bihar state implemented a ban on alcohol, including its manufacture, sale, storage and consumption in 2016. The demand was driven by the belief that alcohol is the primary reason for household deprivation, in addition to violence against women. The ban was introduced with a declared intent of improving the economic conditions of the impoverished families and to reduce violence against women. The broad objective of this study is to explore the nature and extent of violence against women in poor households in urban Bihar. It seeks to examine if and to what extent alcohol prohibition in Bihar has actually reduced intimate partner violence in the state, and has contributed to the household economy and the general wellbeing of the poor people.

The research objectives of the study are:

1. To study the frequency, nature and places of drinking practices before prohibition and examine the extent of the reduction in the consumption of and people’s access to alcohol in present times and replacement by other substances;
2. To investigate the nature and level of intimate partner violence after prohibition and explore if and how drinking dynamics, gender norms, urban conditions and other socio‐economic factors differentially influence intimate partner violence among poor people;
3. To explore if and in what ways alcohol prohibition has helped people’s household economy in terms of purchasing power and productive spending, and whether it has also led to general well‐ being in the household;
4. To generate a series of concrete policy suggestions regarding alcohol related policies and domestic violence in Bihar, in particular, and across the globe, in general.

The study is largely based on mixed methods approach to answer the questions that the study aims to address. Primary data will be collected using a large quantitative household survey and qualitative‐participatory methods employed in violence research (Moser, 2012). The study will have a target sample size of 500 households for covering the second part of the questionnaire. The initial listing questionnaire will therefore be canvassed over a larger sample of for a larger number, say, 2000 households. The sample of 2000 households will be distributed across the four sample cities/towns in proportion to the slum population in the same. It will also compile and analyse secondary data and reports from National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), news reports from print media (newspapers), official documents and other study reports. The study will have a target sample size of 500 households for covering the second part of the questionnaire. The initial listing questionnaire will therefore be canvassed over a larger sample of for a larger number, say, 2000 households. The sample of 2000 households will be distributed across the four sample cities/towns in proportion to the slum population in the same.
List of activities being undertaken currently include review of literature, analysis of secondary data; authoring a blog using secondary data; qualitative instruments and collection of qualitative primary field data; developing a questionnaire for household survey; preparation of annual report submitted to SVRI‐WBG.

Sponsor/s: IGC
Project Director/s: Dr. Sunil Mishra and Dr. Swati Dutta

IGIDR and the System of Promoting Appropriate National Dynamism for Agriculture and Nutrition (SPANDAN) India, have undertaken a project to support innovative research on the broad areas covered under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals‐2 (SDG‐2 Zero Hunger). As a part of the larger project, IHD has been invited to do a study on dynamics of changes in food security over a longer time in Bihar. The study will be based on longitudinal data from 12 villages collected during last two decades by IHD. The study will be completed by January 2022.

Sponsor/s: Volkswagen Foundation, Novo Nordisk Fonden, RiksbankensJubileumsfond, Compagnia San Paolo

This research investigates the levels and main drivers of two key manifestations of socio‐economic inequality: poverty and inequality of opportunity (IOp). It focuses on inter‐ and intra‐ regional/country comparison in the countries of Indian, Bolivia, Germany and Italy. The project is centred on the application of cutting‐edge ML (machine learning) techniques to integrate large‐ scale datasets from various sources and to provide improved estimates of IOp and poverty across and within countries. ML techniques will be used for three main tasks: 1) integrating data from different sources; 2) extracting information from non‐standard data sources, in particular satellite images; 3) estimating IOp and poverty measures across and within countries.

Sponsor/s: Ford Foundation
Project Director/s: Prof. Dev Nathan
Research Team: Dr. Tanushree Kundu, Dr. Prashant Arya and Dr. Ashwani Kumar

Sponsor/s: Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Project Director/s: Dr. Bhim Reddy

The research aims to study the dynamics of tribal migration and its outcomes against the background of livelihood opportunities and constraints in the state of Rajasthan. It focusses on migration patterns and their changing dynamics, employment and livelihoods, changing aspirations of tribal population, especially the youth, and the challenges in accessing opportunities. The objective of this study is twofold: it seeks to identify the possible areas of intervention i). to facilitate safe migration and improve the outcomes of migration process; and ii). in addressing and reducing involuntary/forced migration as well as in expanding livelihood opportunities in the areas of origin. Broadly, it aims to study the role of migration in development and social change in tribal areas and contribute to policy towards improving the conditions of migrants.
The research is based on primary data collected using mixed methods. This includes a large primary household survey of about 1000 households for collecting quantifiable data at household and individual level. Beside this survey, qualitative data will be collected through interviews and focus group discussions. This study covers the Scheduled Tribe population living in the western state of Rajasthan which has large share of tribal population – 13.5% in the total population of the state and nearly 9% of the total ST population in India. About 1000 tribal households will be covered to gather household level information with respect to economic activity, migration, employment, education, assets among others will be collected through canvassing a structured questionnaire. Qualitative primary data will also be collected for this study using in‐depth interviews, focus group discussions and 10 in depth case studies.
This research, thus, will map the interlinkages between the origins and destinations, remittance flows and household economy, skills and occupational mobility.

Sponsor/s: Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India
Project Director/s: Prof. Dev Nathan
Research Team: Dr. Sarthi Acharya, Dr. Balwant Singh Mehta, Dr. Bhim Reddy, Dr. Tanuka

Concerned by the low levels of human development indicators and inequality between tribal peoples and the rest of the Indian population, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India has entrusted Institute for Human Development (IHD) with the preparation of National Tribal Human Development Report. The purpose of the Report is not only to document the existing levels of human development and inequalities, but also, and more importantly, to formulate policies to bridge the vast development gaps that now exist. The report will draw on both national and international best practices and policies.

This Scheduled Tribes Human Development Report (ST‐HDR) is the first such Report exclusively highlighting human development status and issues of the ST population in India. The report is prepared by the Institute for Human Development (IHD), a Centre of Excellence of Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Government of India with support from the Ministry. The Report examines and discusses livelihoods, education and health, as also gender dimensions among the STs. It also examines the relative position of STs vis‐à‐vis other social groups.