Blogs

In this piece, Research Associate Kartikeya Bhatotia examines the factors that have contributed to Bangladesh’s incredible economic growth story, and draws lessons for India. … Read More

“Living in a tier-2 city in the state of Rajasthan in India, I had to take half a day off from work to apply for an Aadhaar card. I had to travel to the Aadhaar center, which was about 7kms … Read More

A significant majority of enterprises led by women in India operate at a subsistence level, with weak access to formal finance, mentoring and skilling support, and poor market linkages. In the wake of COVID-19, these enterprises have been disproportionately affected … Read More

The recently passed “Farm Bills 2020” are a welcome change as the historic ordinances in agriculture aim to reshape how agricultural produce is stored, marketed and sold in the country. The three bills on agricultural market reforms are:  (i) ‘Farmers’ … Read More

Ever since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on 11th March 2020, the ongoing discussions and debates have centred around scrutinizing the effectiveness and adequacy of government emergency responses.  In this blog post, we explore how … Read More

While it is still early to fully understand the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on small-scale fisheries, rapid insights from the ground are important to shape policy actions and programs. This article is based on interactions with small-scale fisherfolk, co-operative, … Read More

From local kirana stores to home-based food businesses, handicraft clusters to small manufacturers, MSMEs are a cornerstone of India’s growth story. MSMEs create employment at scale and are an integral pillar of their local communities. COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown … Read More

In the first, and second posts of this series ‘Beyond Health: How the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting financial services in India’, we presented insights from discussions with MFI heads and sector experts on how the current crisis is impacting financial services and the … Read More

From local kirana stores to home-based food businesses, handicraft clusters to small manufacturers, MSMEs are a cornerstone of India’s growth story. MSMEs create employment at scale and are an integral pillar of their local communities. COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown … Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic will undoubtedly send long-lasting shockwaves across all sectors and segments of society. To understand what this means for the Financial Inclusion sector, LEAD is taking a journey – virtual, of course – across India, speaking with experts … Read More