Special Articles – Impact and Policy Research Review (IPRR)

Key Pathways to Developing a Participatory Theory of Change forSystem Change Tracking: A practice-oriented toolkit for enabling an evaluation culture

October 9, 2023
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The paper demonstrates how a Theory of Change (ToC) could be developed in a participatory process, creating the space for capturing diversity and contextualities within a program and contributing to building a collaborative ecosystem to drive systemic change, through a case study. The process that evolved in building this ToC can be useful for other organizations with similar impact objectives and in similar contexts. The paper shows that a focussed, participatory-consultative approach led by self-reflection and engagement with various stakeholders and their needs, can help address power differentials between funders and the implementing partners of development programs.

Women’s Groups and Political Participation: The Role of Jeevika in Local Governance Participation

October 9, 2023
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Existing studies highlight the importance of resources, bargaining power, household autonomy, and gender-biased norms in women’s political participation. However, it is found through the study that these women remain mere token figures as the male members of the household contest elections and wield decision-making power in the PRIs. This study examines the women’s groups formed under Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (or Jeevika), a community-driven poverty reduction program to improve women’s political participation

A Detailed Study On Financial Inclusion of the Gond Tribes in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu

October 9, 2023
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Financial inclusion is a critical component of inclusive growth. It is a much-needed intervention for managing financial vulnerabilities, increasing economic resilience by accelerating growth and reducing poverty. Scheduled tribes are the poorest people in India, with 63.68% of Scheduled Tribe households being financially excluded. This study analyses the level of financial inclusion among tribal households in Gondinagar in terms of financial service usage and access, as well as financial awareness. People who live in Gondinagar are members of the Gond community, which is classified as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) and is located in the semi-urban area of the Coimbatore district.

Eye Care and Sustainable Development

January 7, 2023
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Vision is not only critical to an individual’s growth and development but also has direct implications for national and global development. It holds the potential to boost the global economy in a fair and equitable manner. It enables everyone to live their lives to the fullest, releasing their potential to learn, work, and lead fulfilled and productive lives. This paper examines the direct and indirect implications of eye health care on the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, thereby making it contingent upon policymakers to invest in the ‘vision for all’. The study proposes urgent policy interventions for creating integrated people-centered eye care, embedded in health systems and based on strong primary health care, and scaled and decentralized to the grassroots level in India. It emphasizes eye care in local governance -especially below the district level for effective implementation.

Inclusive Politics and Surfacing Women Leadership in Urban Local Governance

January 7, 2023
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To ensure the democratic decentralization of power, participation, and representation of all the sections of society in political structures, one of the most important affirmative actions that have been taken in India is the enactment of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act for urban local governing bodies. Inclusion through reservation has ensured equality of political opportunities, especially for women who are always seen as passive and mute spectators in every sphere. In Jammu and Kashmir (formerly a state), 2005 year acclaimed as a significant moment for women’s political inclusion for the first time, wherein electoral outcomes were largely facilitated by quotas of reserved seats that mandate 33% female representation at the ward membership level. This paper explores the efficacy of inclusive politics at the local level and emerging women leaders as corporators in urban local governing bodies. Does this provision of reservation of seats for women actually lead to favorable outcomes? How these women leaders are grappling with their newly defined roles, responsibilities, and obstacles coming their way?

Feminist Re-imagination of Social Theories

January 7, 2023
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Disciplinary canons are gendered and there have been significant erasures and exclusions. Over the past several decades an impressive and original body of feminist criticism of social and political theory has emerged, that has forcefully challenged the masculinist assumptions of classical cannons. A critique of the partial, androcentric nature of disciplines is the starting point for all feminist interventions. We begin by interrogating this canon, from political philosophy and economics to sociology, we argue how a series of dualisms and binaries have characterized the development of knowledge. Women and those from marginal locations lie on the periphery of this ‘knowledge-making process’. We then ask what a feminist re-imagination of disciplines would entail. Is it all about adding the women’s perspective to the existing masculinist discourses or is it about disrupting and dismantling those hegemonic discourses and a reconceptualization of the same from a feminist perspective with the necessary shifts in epistemologies and ontologies? We argue for a fundamental re-ordering of canonical precepts and discourses through a feminist lens.

Gendering COVID-19: Impact and Strategies towards Gender Inclusive Recovery

January 7, 2023
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The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated inequalities of various kinds through the deadly impact of lockdowns, quarantines, and the resurgence of various strains of the novel coronavirus. In addition to challenging global health systems, it has aggravated the existing gender disparities across the globe which has significant implications for women. The current paper looks at some of the prominent impacts of the pandemic on women in the Indian context from a gendered lens. It also suggests gender-inclusive strategies to deal with the emerging challenges in the post-COVID scenario.

Securing the Upside: Pandemic Teaching and Learning Success Themes and Go-Forward Policy

February 24, 2022
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This article explores themes of teaching and learning innovations that emerged or were reinforced during the pandemic. Some innovations have survived, and even thrived, and the authors believe they have a role post-pandemic. The authors explore these themes and recommend policy steps that can secure future benefits from this unwelcome but still hard-won experience.