世界経済・社会統計 = World development indicators

计量经济分析 = Econometric analysis

THE NEED FOR QUALITY The first thing that we need to consider, in any organization, is that quality is the most important thing. The quality of your work defines you.  Whoever you are,  Whatever you do,  I can find the same products and services cheaper somewhere else. But your quality is your signature. Developing and delivering high quality products and services means that you are doing things correctly from the beginning. As a consequence, you are reducing the need for additional services, from verification to warranty.

Total quality management.

Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach

Meeting: International Seminar on Information and Communication Technology Statistics, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 19-21 July 2010

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

In India public (government) tubewells were built with the intention of providing irrigation to all categories of farmers in a fair, equitable and affordable manner. However, most public tubewell programs across India have failed on all these counts. Efforts to transfer their management to water users too have met with little success. Nonetheless, the Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation (GWRDC)-a state-owned public company-has achieved rare success in tubewell transfer by handing over management of around 60 percent of public tubewells in the Gujarat state to user groups. This study tries to identify the factors that helped in accelerating the transfer process and evaluate the performance of transferred tubewells against those owned by individuals and GWRDC. It also suggests some policy changes that can make the scheme function better and explores the replicability of the success achieved in Gujarat.

/pdf/tubewell-transfer-in-gujarat-a-study-of-the-gwrdc-approach-2pl6ml8pci.pdf

Tubewell Transfer in Gujarat: A Study of the GWRDC Approach

Price of solar panels has declined rapidly. Encouraged by increasing affordability of the technology and its promise to curb the demand for subsidised electricity, state governments in India are aggressively promoting solar irrigation pumps. Rajasthan became the pioneer by announcing a scheme in 2011 with 86% subsidy to horticulture farmers who used drip irrigation and farm ponds. Based on extensive fieldwork and survey in three districts of Rajasthan, this paper looks at the farmers’ experiences, the design and implementation of the policy, and makes recommendations for a faster and more equitable diffusion of the technology, which could attack India’s invidious nexus between energy and groundwater irrigation, and change it for the better.

Solar irrigation pumps: farmers’ experience and state policy in Rajasthan [India].

The targeted public distribution system (TPDS) of India—world’s largest food safety-net program—has a reputation for poor targeting, rampant corruption and low impact. Five states of India modified TPDS by reducing targeting, lowering grain prices to Rs.1–3 per kg and tightening its administration. This paper assesses the impact of changes in the TPDS on household food consumption using data from a repeated cross-section of Indian households from five rounds of representative consumption surveys between 1993–1994 and 2009–2010. We use the Difference-in-Difference (DID) method to identify the policy impact, first on consumption of food-grains, and second, on food expenditure. We find that modifications in TPDS led not only to an increase in the purchase of subsidized grains from fair-price shops, but also to diversification of the food basket of poor households. We also find evidence for reduction in the diversion of grains from TPDS to the open market in reform states. Finally, we present suggestive evidence that a food policy reform is likely to fail if price and targeting policy components are not accompanied by effective administrative measures to reduce corruption and improve the logistics of subsidized food distribution. These are important findings for India’s own National Food Security Act (NFSA) and for other food safety-net programs throughout the developing world.

Is More Inclusive More Effective? The 'New Style' Public Distribution System in India

The World Health Assembly called for a 50% global anaemia reduction in women of reproductive age (15-49 years of age) from 2012 to 2025 India accounts for the most cases of anaemia in the world, and half of all pregnant Indian women are anaemic In India, the government implemented a 4-year food-based safety net programme from 2008 to 2012 involving the provision of fortified wheat flour through its public distribution system We assessed programme impact on anaemia among pregnant women (n = 10,186) using data from the 2002-2004 and 2012-2013 Indian District Level Health Surveys The difference-in-differences method was used to estimate the impact on haemoglobin (Hb) and anaemia in pregnant women living in northern India (Punjab) and southern India (Tamil Nadu), with pregnant women in neighbouring states without wheat fortification programmes serving as controls In northern India, we found no impact on Hb (β = -0184, P = 0793) or anaemia reduction (β = -001, P = 0859), as expected, given that the intervention targeted only nonpoor households and demand for fortified wheat was low In southern India, where intervention coverage was high, we found no impact on Hb (β = -0001, P = 0998) but did see an impact on anaemia reduction (β = -008, P = 0042), which was unexpected given low consumption of wheat in this predominantly rice-eating region India's wheat fortification programmes were largely ineffective in terms of reducing anaemia among pregnant women As policymakers expand fortification programs, it is critical to ensure that the fortified food is universally available and distributed widely through well-functioning and popular outlets

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mcn.12669

Impact of subsidized fortified wheat on anaemia in pregnant Indian women.

Paddy – Bihar’s staple crop – is vulnerable to drought, primarily due to the high cost of irrigation. In 2008, the Bihar government launched a conditional cash transfer scheme to subsidize diesel for irrigation in drought-affected areas. We show that this scheme has not been effective in mitigating the impact of drought on paddy production. A primary survey of potential and actual beneficiaries shows that low awareness and penetration among smallholders, alongside uncertainties and delays in the disbursal of the subsidy, make it ineffective. We suggest that in states with limited capacity, such ad hoc subsidies are unlikely to protect smallholders from weather shocks.

Avinash Kishore

Papers

Tubewell Transfer in Gujarat: A Study of the GWRDC Approach

Solar irrigation pumps: farmers’ experience and state policy in Rajasthan [India].

Is More Inclusive More Effective? The 'New Style' Public Distribution System in India

Impact of subsidized fortified wheat on anaemia in pregnant Indian women.

Droughts, Distress and a Conditional Cash Transfer Program to Mitigate the Impact of Droughtin Bihar, India