27 May 2014: Cashless and Paperless Field Enrollments by Low Income Individuals

Gautam Bhardwaj
Invest India Micro Pension Services and
Nitin Chaudhary
Micro Pension Foundation

Abstract:
The majority of India's low income informal sector workers do not have bank accounts nor access to a secure micro-payment mechanism. This imposes several important constraints and risks in delivering long-term, contributions-based pension, insurance and micro-savings products to the millions of excluded poor.

Also, the poor face significant challenges in providing valid ID documents prescribed by financial regulators while enrolling for formal financial products. This is often a result of insufficient or outdated identity documentation due to migration and other reasons. The problem of stringent KYC requirements is further exacerbated by a lengthy application and verification procedure involving the collection of multiple photographs and application forms along with physical verification of each application form against KYC documents. This causes significant cost and time overheads in processing individual “micro-pension” applications.

The microPension-VISA Inclusion Lab has developed and field-tested an integrated solution that enables on-the-spot, cashless and paperless enrollments using eKYC and bank-issued prepaid cards in collaboration with the UIDAI and VISA. Gautam Bhardwaj from IIMPS and Nitin Chaudhary from the microPension-VISA Lab will briefly present the context and the solution at a seminar at NIPFP. The presentation will be followed by a live enrollment for NPS-Lite and UTI-RBPF to demonstrate the solution.

Date: May 27, 2014
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall (Classroom), Ground Floor, R&T Building
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Note:
Those who are interested may please confirm your participation to Ms. Suhasini Prasad at suhasini.prasad@nipfp.org.in latest by Monday, 26th May 2014.

Location:

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3 June 2014: Workshop on Theory of Regression Discontinuity Designs, illustrated with a few empirical examples by Mr. Matthieu Stigler

Organised by:
Macro/Finance Group

Program Schedule

Date: June 3, 2014
Time: 09:15 A.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall (Classroom), Ground Floor, R&T Building
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Note:
Those who are interested may please confirm your participation to Ms. Suhasini Prasad at suhasini.prasad@nipfp.org.in latest by Friday, 30th May 2014. Participants are expected to bring their own laptop running ‘R’ in order to participate in the second session.

Suggested readings
Imbens GW, Lemieux T (2008). “Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice.” Journal of Econometrics, 142(2), 615–635.

Lee DS (2008). “Randomized experiments from non-random selection in U.S. House elections.”, Journal of Econometrics, 142(2), 675–697.

Location:

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23 May 2014: Can MGNREGS buffer negative shocks in early childhood? Evidence from Andhra Pradesh

Aparajita Dasgupta
Population Council, New Delhi

Abstract:
This study examines the role of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in buffering the negative effects of early childhood exposure to rainfall shocks on long-term health outcomes. Exploiting the spatial and temporal variation in MGNREGS coverage, the study estimates the extent to which nutritional shocks in early childhood can be offset by access to the programme. The study employs a unique identification strategy by integrating detailed administrative records of drought shock and MGNREGS phase-wise roll-out information with a household level panel data from the Young Lives survey, which was conducted over three waves (2002, 2007 and 2009-10) in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The study finds that while MGNREGS does not help correct long-term past health deficiencies, it is useful in buffering recent drought shocks, which varies by policy-relevant sub-groups. An increase in 22 working days per household increases height-for-age by around 0.26 standard deviations, which is bridging about half the rural-urban gap in average height-for-age score. The programme is most effective for the case of lower educated households and scheduled castes, that are presumably more vulnerable in the face of climatic variability. Hence, there is much room to reap in the indirect benefits of the programme by ensuring food security needs of these households.

Date: May 23, 2014
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room, Ground Floor
ISID Complex, Plot No. 4
Vasant Kunj Institutional Area
New Delhi- 110 070(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/delhi-seminar-series-may-tickets-11568845729
Watch the seminar live at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPxgz9b6RB0

23 May 2014: Why So Few Women in Politics? Evidence from India

Mudit Kapoor
Indian School of Business, Hyderabad

Abstract:
Women remain severely under-represented in political institutions across the world. The International Political Science Association reports that as of January 2013 women representatives accounted for just over 20 percent of all parliamentarians in the world. Set against the just-completed largest election in the world in India, it is useful to ask why are there so few female representatives in political positions relative to their share in the population and electoral rolls? The gap between men and women has narrowed least in political representation when compared to the gaps in education, legal rights and economic opportunities. Despite the magnitude of the problem, there is little definitive understanding of the factors that might be causing this. Mudit Kapoor will discuss a recent study for India, done jointly with Shamika Ravi, on women as political candidates in a representative democracy. The study analyzes data from 50 years of assembly elections at the constituency level from the states of India.

Date: May 23, 2014
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

Note:
Please join us for tea after the seminar. For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on 011-2345-2669.

Location:

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23 May 2014: How to Look at Education Data in India

Varsha Joshi
Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India

Date: May 23, 2014
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
Centre for Civil Society,
A-69 Hauz Khas,
New Delhi-110016(INDIA)

Note:
Please RSVP to Manasi Bose (manasi@ccs.in | +91 98107 72964). Due to space limitations, this is an invitation-only event.

Location:

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