Insights, a blog published by IMPRI.
Bihar holds a distinction that no state wants. Despite a decline from 3.4 in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 3.0 in NFHS-5 (2019-21), Bihar still records the highest Total Fertility Rate among all major states in India. The national average has reached 2.0, the replacement level. All other medium and large states in India, those with a population above one crore, now have a TFR below the replacement level of 2.1. Bihar stands alone.
Kerala's estuarine rice-farming systems are often associated with Kuttanad, the famous below-sea-level rice-growing region of Alappuzha and Kottayam. But in the coastal wetlands of northern Kerala, a similar and much less recognised farming system exists in the tidal wetlands of Kannur, Kasaragod and Kozhikode. Known as kaipad (or kaikandam), it is considered the Malabar counterpart of central Kerala's pokkali system. Farmers grow salt-tolerant paddy during the monsoon and traditionally use the same fields for shrimp and fish harvesting during the rest of the year.
India’s economic rise has been accompanied by an equally dramatic expansion in vehicle ownership. Rising incomes, urbanisation, logistics growth and improved mobility have together made India the world’s third-largest automobile market. The country now adds more than 20 million vehicles annually (NITI Aayog), making automobiles one of the most important drivers of industrial activity, employment and consumption.
The timely delivery of justice is central to the rule of law and effective governance. However, Indian courts have faced persistent challenges of case pendency, delays in disposal and limited access to consolidated judicial information. To address these gaps through technology, the Government introduced the e-Courts Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan. The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) emerged during Phase II (2015–2023) as a central repository of information on cases in District, Subordinate and High Courts, providing data on institution, disposal and pendency through an online platform.
Although the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been operational for a decade, it does not exhibit the obsolescence typical of legacy infrastructure; rather, it currently faces challenges associated with rapid and unprecedented scalability. NPCI launched it in April 2016 to make bank-to-bank transfers instant and interoperable, so a payment from any bank app could reach any other bank account without the usual friction. The decision that really made it explode came later: in January 2020, the government set UPI’s Merchant Discount Rate to zero, so neither payer nor payee would ever see a fee. That single choice is arguably why the neighbourhood vegetable seller and the metro-station tea stall started accepting UPI as readily as a large retail chain.
Kerala's paddy fields are wetland ecosystems that help manage flooding, recharge groundwater, and support rural biodiversity. They are also the state's main source of rice. Between 1957-58 and 2022-23, the area used for paddy cultivation in Kerala decreased from about 7.66 lakh hectares to roughly 1.91 lakh hectares.
Women’s economic insecurity in India is shaped not only by low incomes but also by unpaid care work, limited control over household resources, dependence on family members and unequal access to employment. State governments have increasingly responded through direct cash-transfer programmes that place money directly into women’s bank accounts. Haryana’s Deen Dayal Lado Lakshmi Yojana (DDLLY) is part of this wider shift toward women-focused income support.