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During 2020-2021, both monetary and fiscal policy measures were executed to mitigate the labour market impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the pandemic adversely affected on a number of labour market outcomes. First, youth labour force participation, in particular, in urban areas declined drastically during the pandemic period. Second, the reduction in employment was very much significant among females as well as in the urban areas compared to their counterparts. Third, most of the job losers joined the agriculture sector, resulting an increase in the share of agricultural workers in the economy. Forth, employment levels of many economic sectors contracted; namely Mining & Quarrying, Manufacturing, Accommodation and Food Services Activities, Financial and Insurance Activities, Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, and Administrative and Support Service Activities. Fifth, unemployment, in particular among educated youths, increased significantly. Finally, informal employment slightly increased while impact on real wages were marginally witnessed. The economy of Sri Lanka went into a deep crisis by early 2022 and the country defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history. In subsequent period, economic activities were contracted due to a number of unhealthy developments including fertilizer import ban, shortages of essential imports, import restrictions and power cuts. Hence, it could reasonably be assumed that the effects of the pandemic may have further aggravated in the subsequent periods though an increasing number of workers sought foreign employment opportunities in recent months. Hence, it is imperative that the policy makers take note on above effects.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Labour Market, Public Policy, Sri Lanka

Priyanga Dunusinghe (2023). Labour Market Performance and Public Policy Responses during COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Sri Lanka. Indian Development Policy Review, 4: 2, pp. 95-109.

The oil pal cultivation is one of the important commercial crops and it gives upliftment among the farmers in India. Oil Palm Development Programme was started under the “Technology Mission on Oilseeds and Pulses. The scheme focused on area expansion in the states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Gujarat and Goa. It is being implemented as part of the “Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm & Maize” (ISOPOM) and provides support for Oil Palm cultivation in twelve states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, and West Bengal. Even though, Assam, Maharashtra and West Bengal did not undertake Oil Palm cultivation though Maharashtra has now undertaken oil palm area expansion from 2010-11.

The paper is divided into five sections. The first is introductory in nature; the second deals with materials and methods and Thirds deals with growth trends of oilseeds in India level. Fourth describes the result and discussion especially, growth trends of oil palm production in India at state level. Lastly provides concluding remarks and policy suggestions.

K. Murugan (2023). Growth Trends of Palm Oil Production and Polices in India. Indian Development Policy Review, 4: 2, pp. 111-125.

The study applies a qualitative approach and a network analysis on a set of text data, obtained from a set of knowledgeable persons in the area of road safety, to discover and understand the causes and remedies of the road safety problem in Bangladesh. Analyses of the text data show that the main causes of the road safety problem are, driving without licenses, competitive overtaking tendencies, violation of traffic rules, and poor law enforcement environment. The remedies are related to removal of these causes and building overall awareness among the road users. Government policies are important but often fail to improve the road safety situation because of the absence of social capital in the country. The study shows that the root cause of the problem lies in the lack of social capital and improvement in the road safety situation is not possible until progress in this front is not made.

Keywords: Road Safety; Policy Failure; Social Capital Qualitative Data

Amirul Islam (2023). Policy Failure in Maintaining Road Safety in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Analysis of the Identified Causes and Suggested Solutions from Public Opinion Data. Indian Development Policy Review, 4: 2, pp. 127-145.

The frequent climatic hazards are the foremost factor for internal displacement in India, which is ranked first among the south Asian countries. This article intends to examine the temporal change and spatial distribution of internally displaced people due to different natural disasters in India using a globally representative data set of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The eastern and south-eastern region is worst affected due to frequent natural hazards and displaced millions of populations. More specifically, we argue that flood is a leading cause of internal displacement in India. Furthermore, the spatial pattern of the reason behind displacement significantly varied with space in India. The seasonal variability of monsoon wind-related atmospheric disturbances increases the frequency of cyclones in the eastern and south-eastern regions and is positively associated with huge displacement in India.

Keywords: Displacement, Hazard, Disaster, Climate Change, India

Moslem Hossain (2023). Mapping the Climate Hazards and Internal Displacement in India between 2011-2021. Indian Development Policy Review, 4: 2, pp. 147-160.

The agriculture developed State Punjab has 37.45 percent population of Scheduled Castes in rural areas. The Scheduled Castes are predominantly landless and working as agriculture labourers. To supplement their family income by selling milk and to fulfil family need of milk the Scheduled Caste families keep milch animals. The percentage of such households is small; in the Census Survey of 4474 households in randomly selected thirty villages, only 37.73 percent of Schedule Caste households owned milch animals. The econometric analysis through probability models captured the variables like the ownership of land holding, availability of family labour and occupation of head of household raise the probability of owning a milch animal by a Schedule Caste household. The immediate need at policy level is to provide plots of land for sheds for animals, provision of high milk yielding animals at subsidised rate, promotion of female milk cooperative societies at village level etc, and opening of dry and green fodder stalls in every village.

Keywords: Scheduled Castes, landless, milch animals.

Varinder Sharma (2023). Factors Affecting Ownership of Milch Animals by Rural Scheduled Caste Households in Punjab. Indian Development Policy Review, 4: 2, pp. 161-170.

Medical tourism refers to the practice of traveling to another country for medical treatment, usually at a lower cost or with a higher level of expertise than is available in one’s home country. India has emerged as one of the leading destinations for medical tourism, offering a wide range of medical treatments and procedures at a fraction of the cost of similar treatments in developed countries. Medical tourism has emerged as a lucrative industry in India, providing an avenue for economic empowerment. This article explores the various factors that have contributed to the growth of medical tourism in India and its impact on the economy. It highlights India’s competitive advantage in terms of cost-effectiveness, skilled healthcare professionals, and state-of-the-art infrastructure. The article also examines the challenges faced by the industry and the steps taken by the government and private sector to overcome these challenges. In addition, it discusses the potential for medical tourism to create employment opportunities and boost the local economy. Overall, this articles examines that how the medical tourism has the potential to become a significant contributor to India’s economic growth and development.

Keywords: Medical tourism, economic empowerment, growth, employment opportunities.

Veeragoni Shirisa & Prity Kumari (2023). Medical Tourism as Emerging Heaven for Economic Empowerment in India. Indian Development Policy Review, 4: 2, pp. 171-191.