Upasak Das
Hi,
This is Upasak Das, currently employed as a post doctoral fellow in the Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program at the University of Pennsylvania. I am primarily based out of New Delhi and working on measuring the social networks relevant for and the social drivers behind behaviour related to sanitation and open defecation in Bihar and Tamil Nadu (both rural and urban). Apart from this, I am also interested in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), education, and empirical political economy. I primarily work on Development Economics and applied Econometrics.
I was formerly an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum where I taught courses on Impact Evaluation, Development Economics and Mathematical Economics. I completed my Ph.D. from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai.
If you want to know more about my work and discuss further, please dont hesitate to contact me at the given email id.
Address: New Delhi, India
This is Upasak Das, currently employed as a post doctoral fellow in the Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program at the University of Pennsylvania. I am primarily based out of New Delhi and working on measuring the social networks relevant for and the social drivers behind behaviour related to sanitation and open defecation in Bihar and Tamil Nadu (both rural and urban). Apart from this, I am also interested in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), education, and empirical political economy. I primarily work on Development Economics and applied Econometrics.
I was formerly an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum where I taught courses on Impact Evaluation, Development Economics and Mathematical Economics. I completed my Ph.D. from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai.
If you want to know more about my work and discuss further, please dont hesitate to contact me at the given email id.
Address: New Delhi, India
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Papers by Upasak Das
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and over 4800 randomly selected users across
100 villages in 20 districts in Maharashtra. It has two goals: the first was to verify the existence of the
assets and the second was to elicit user perceptions of the problems and benefits they associate with the
work. The survey indicates that 87% of the works exist and function and over 75% of them are directly
or indirectly related to agriculture. A bulk of the rest constitutes rural roads that connect habitations to
farms and provides access to agricultural markets. The study also finds that 92% of the randomly
selected users paper that their main occupation is farming; half of them are small and marginal
farmers, owning less than 1.6 hectares of land. An overwhelming 90% of respondents considered the
works very useful or somewhat useful; only 8% felt the works were useless. There is some evidence that
where people feel that have played a part in deciding the type of work, these are more likely to be
ranked as useful and well-maintained. Likewise, works on private lands tend to score better in terms of
perceived usefulness and in terms of present condition. Overall it appears that the works are supportive
of agriculture and of small and marginal farmers. There is however scope to improve the design of
assets and to have a more inclusive process of work selection.
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and over 4800 randomly selected users across
100 villages in 20 districts in Maharashtra. It has two goals: the first was to verify the existence of the
assets and the second was to elicit user perceptions of the problems and benefits they associate with the
work. The survey indicates that 87% of the works exist and function and over 75% of them are directly
or indirectly related to agriculture. A bulk of the rest constitutes rural roads that connect habitations to
farms and provides access to agricultural markets. The study also finds that 92% of the randomly
selected users paper that their main occupation is farming; half of them are small and marginal
farmers, owning less than 1.6 hectares of land. An overwhelming 90% of respondents considered the
works very useful or somewhat useful; only 8% felt the works were useless. There is some evidence that
where people feel that have played a part in deciding the type of work, these are more likely to be
ranked as useful and well-maintained. Likewise, works on private lands tend to score better in terms of
perceived usefulness and in terms of present condition. Overall it appears that the works are supportive
of agriculture and of small and marginal farmers. There is however scope to improve the design of
assets and to have a more inclusive process of work selection.