The issues embedded in Maharashtra’s Economic Survey have a national resonance. It is verily a WhatsApp message for India.

Neither Ujala programme nor Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana offer any compelling explanation for the sudden spike in brightness of India’s night-time light satellite images.

The continuous plight of Indian farmers irrespective of the Governments in power or robust agricultural growth.

It is important to recognise and fix the flaws in the current method of defining urban areas as it forms the basis for important policies such as eligibility for government schemes.

Skewed projections of non-rural populations have affected economic planning.

For developing countries, fixing the basics is crucial before talking about smart cities innovation.

The story of the coming urban explosion is one of the rise of medium-sized cities. But the world’s planners and authorities have yet to accept this fact.

The flawed definition of urban in India has serious consequences for service delivery and resource allocation. 

IDFC Institute's first Working Paper examines the "Implications And Suitability Of Urban Definitions In India Through Its Employment Guarantee Programme".

IDFC Institute's Vaidehi Tandel and Komal Hiranandani write for the World Bank's "Jobs and Development" blog