Prof Usha Ram - Impact And Policy Research Institute (IMPRI)

Usha Ram, doctor of philosophy in demography and double masters in population studies and Economic is currently serving as a Professor in the Bio-Statistics & Epidemiology, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. She was awarded CIHR-Hope Fellowship by the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Canada. She worked at the Centre for Global Health Research, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada between 2011 and 2015. Prof Ram has coordinated several large scale demographic and health studies at the IIPS including first ever a sub-national study of Youth in India: Situation and Needs Study, Concurrent evaluation of national rural health mission, Family health and wealth study, Cause of death study in India. She recently developed district level factsheets for tribal health indicators being used by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI for developing local policies and programs. She is currently the principal investigator of the “Exemplars in Global Health: National and subnational investigation of the drivers of success in maternal and new-born mortality reduction in India” in collaboration with the University of Manitoba, National Health System Resource Centre, and IHAT funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, India. Ram has mentored several candidates at the Ph.D., MPhil, and Master’s levels on a wide range of public health issues including road traffic injuries, mental health, non-communicable diseases including cancer, tuberculosis, sexual and reproductive health matters and rights, maternal and child health issues specifically among marginalized and minority communities.

Prof. Ram is the only serving faculty member at IIPS who appeared in the recently released ‘Indian Researchers who were Top 2% in 2019 – Stanford Study’. Her work on estimating childhood and adult mortality for the Indian district published in the Lancet Global Health has been widely appreciated and has been adopted by several countries, including Ethiopia, Mexico, and Brazil. Prof Ram has worked in several capacities for various international and national organizations including as consultant to UNFPA and is on Editorial/Advisory board of the Lancet EclininMedicine, and Canadian Studies in Population and a Governing Board members of ARPAN, an NGO working towards eliminating child sexual abuse in India. She served as External Review Committee Member, Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) and Grand Challenges Canada (GCC): Stars in Gender Equality (Stars in Global Health Round 10) competition, 2018-19.

Dr. Ram has visited and presented her research at the several prestigious institutions and university including University of Toronto, Canada, MPIDR, Germany, John Hopkins University, USA, East-West Population Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, Netherlands, UNESCAP, Thailand, UN head office in New York, USA, University of Manitoba, Canada.

Research Areas

Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Gender, Pluralism and Social Inclusion, Livelihoods, Employment and Well-being, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes, Social Sector, Urbanization, Habitat, Transportation and Regional Development

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Publications

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According to the United Nations, Climate Change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Due to the continuous rise in boiling temperatures, the globe is under the mesh of harmful consequences. As a result of tackling this climate crisis this year’s UN climate change conference, COP28 is being organized in Dubai which will play a pivotal opportunity and role to correct course and accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis.

3 Dec

InsightsPolicy Update

IMPRI

COP28 UAE and its Implications on Climate Change

According to the United Nations, Climate Change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Due to the continuous rise in boiling temperatures, the globe is un

Navigating Careers in Public Policy for Aspiring Finance Professionals in India

3 Dec

InsightsEntrepreneurship, ICT and InnovationPublic Policies, Programs and Schemes

Samprikta Banerjee

Navigating Careers in Public Policy for Aspiring Entrepreneurs in India

In a dynamic and rapidly evolving socio-economic landscape, the intersection of entrepreneurship and public policy plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of a nation. As India

3 Dec

InsightsCenter for the Study for Finance and EconomicsEntrepreneurship, ICT and InnovationPublic Policies, Programs and Schemes

Samprikta Banerjee

Navigating Careers in Public Policy for Aspiring Finance Professionals in India

In a rapidly evolving global landscape, the importance of sound public policies cannot be overstated. As India positions itself as a major player on the world stage, the need for s

The recent rains in early November were major news across all media, more so for the concerns of the World Cup Cricket match that was scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Cricket stadium in Bengaluru than for the safety and security of its citizens. Several city areas were inundated, leaving commuters stranded, homes gutted with rain and sewage waters, livelihoods on the streets of Bengaluru tossed and several helpless as they saw the rains ruin their homes, savings, belongings and more. While everyone is affected to some extent by such rains, it is the senior citizens, particularly women, those with disabilities and dependent on others, those who have pre-existing health conditions, those with mental health challenges and those who are socially and economically weaker, those who live alone and those with no access to basic infrastructure are affected the most. Urban Bengaluru is home to the highest number of senior citizens in the state among all the 30 districts, with a total number of over nine lakh senior citizens. What are the challenges faced by this population over the last couple of decades in the context of extreme weather conditions, and how is the city prepared to protect this population? These are questions that remain to be addressed. Once referred to as a pensioner’s paradise, Bengaluru today is a nightmare for the senior citizens with poor infrastructure for mobility, access to health care, access to clean drinking water, safe food, safe places for recreation and general well-being. For many, the only hope has remained the ever-increasing number of homes for the aged across the city and the helpline number 1090. There are many international agreements and legal provisions that provide rights to the aged. The UN Principles of Ageing, established in 1982, embodies the Rights of Senior Citizens, which are the foundation for the entitlements of senior citizens. It has five principles (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, n.d.), and these are Independence, Participation, Care, Self-fulfilment and Dignity. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out a universal plan of action to achieve sustainable development in a balanced manner. It calls for ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are met for all segments of society, at all ages, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable—including older persons. More importantly, Article 41 of the Indian constitution (under the category of Directive Principles of State Policy) states that “the State shall also, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want”. Further, the legal right to claim maintenance by senior citizens is given under personal laws, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the more recent Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, which aims at providing maintenance to senior citizens in order to prevent their destitution. It additionally seeks to protect the life and property of the senior citizens. With extremes of weather becoming common globally, Bengaluru city has been experiencing unprecedented rains followed by floods, really hot summers and chilly winters. Many senior citizens lack the physical, mental, social and financial resources to avoid or minimise the consequences of such extreme weather. Increased summer temperatures with heat waves and the urban heat island effect can be life-threatening because of the reduced physiological ability of the body to regulate temperature. This can be worse when they have pre-existing conditions of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory disease and dehydration. And the risk gets amplified when they do not have the resources to ease their living conditions. Access to 24x7 energy, clean drinking water, healthy food and ease of transportation and health care becomes crucial. Heavy rains and flooding can also cause injuries and be life-threatening to senior citizens. Many will not be able to flee or be easily evacuated and become susceptible to water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria, dengue and other diseases that spread quickly in flooded neighbourhoods. With the increasing Air Quality Index (AQI) across the city, senior citizens are less likely to be informed about it because of poor access to phones and other digital communication technologies. This can leave them unaware and prone to the health impacts of air pollution in many parts of the city. Such extremes of weather and their impacts are also more likely to leave senior citizens, particularly those living at the margins, with significant financial losses as they struggle to recover with limited incomes. The COVID-19 pandemic left many lessons to learn, with the elderly being affected not just by the burden of the disease but also by lack of access to food, health care, medicines and more. The threat from climate change to the rights of senior citizens is grave, and with older people being neglected, ignored, excluded and left behind, it only gets worse. Research in this context is greatly needed paying attention to those at the intersection of gender, sexuality, religion, caste, class, language, region, and their coping mechanisms with the impacts of climate change will reveal deeper insights to make our cities truly inclusive. In all aspects of urban design and development, decision-makers have largely left behind the elderly as being conservative, old-fashioned, withdrawn, incapable, with no social networks, and so on. Particularly in the context of climate change, it is now essential for their voices to be heard. They surely have a lot to contribute to addressing this issue locally. Every ward in the city could first start by creating awareness of climate change among senior citizens. This could be followed by holding consultations with them, as the city has a growing number of retired persons who are knowledgeable and have years of experience that can be extremely valuable in tackling climate change-related impacts at the local level. Their memories of extreme weather events and perhaps natural disasters will provide valuable insights to prepare mitigation and adaptation plans for the local level. They also form a significant percentage of the voting population and can certainly influence policy decisions. With an increased number of engagements with senior citizens through diverse forms of dialogue and discussion, the city can have an inclusive plan built on the ground up that accounts for the concerns and well-being of all groups, particularly the elderly. Door-to-door surveys, focus group discussions, online questionnaires, personal interviews, phone interviews, and interactive discussions in every ward will help obtain some of the best ideas for all the local level challenges, and this will help design the most appropriate plan for every ward across the city. One has to also bear in mind that not everyone is comfortable with technology and digital tools. And a one-size-fits-all, top-down strategy is unlikely to reach the most vulnerable. It is pivotal now to plan the city with senior citizens in mind in the context of climate change. The population is ageing, and soon, the city will be home to many senior citizens. This highlights the importance of having a plan in place and the preparedness to deal with extreme weather events and to tap into the knowledge and experience of today’s senior citizens.

3 Dec

InsightsCenter for Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development

IMPRI Desk

Addressing Climate Change Challenges for Bengaluru’s Senior Citizens

The recent rains in early November were major news across all media, more so for the concerns of the World Cup Cricket match that was scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Cricket stadium i

From CO2 Emission Reduction to Removal: A Fresh Perspective for COP28

3 Dec

InsightsCenter for Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable DevelopmentEnvironment, Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development

IMPRI Desk

From CO2 Emission Reduction to Removal: A Fresh Perspective for COP28

Carbon dioxide (CO2) removal on a massive scale alone can prevent a climate crisis, aided by full implementation of an earlier COP pact to plug methane emissions

3 Dec

Insights

IMPRI Desk

Critics are valuable and fair

A brief but powerful meditation on the politics of reasonableness and unreason. IS it not reasonable to expect reasonableness in discourse? A doctor friend set me thinking when

If recent diplomatic activities are to be believed, China is bouncing back from the wilderness as more and more major actors on the world stage try to reset their engagement with Beijing. It has been a disastrous few years for Chinese diplomacy and most of it has been of its own making. The arrogance displayed at the strategic level, coupled with its ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy of recent times, almost destroyed the narrative of China’s peaceful rise. As Chinese President Xi Jinping centralized power and shunned the sagacity of his predecessors on playing it lightly on the global stage, he emerged in much of the world as a global villain, even beating his close follower, the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un.

2 Dec

InsightsCenter for International Relations and Strategic StudiesInternational Relations and Strategic Studies

IMPRI Desk

Balancing Perspectives: Understanding China’s Diplomatic Strategies in a Global Arena

If recent diplomatic activities are to be believed, China is bouncing back from the wilderness as more and more major actors on the world stage try to reset their engagement with B

Pakistan's Dual Dilemma: Balancing Taliban Relations Amidst Internal Strife

1 Dec

InsightsCenter for International Relations and Strategic Studies

IMPRI Desk

Pakistan’s Dual Dilemma: Balancing Taliban Relations Amidst Internal Strife

As Pakistan struggles to prod the Taliban to act on militant groups, its dual policy of supporting extremist groups has come back to haunt it.

30 Nov

Insights

IMPRI Desk

The Bilateral Balancing Act: Insights from the Biden-Xi Summit

Given the criticality of this partnership for ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region, India will be keenly watching the Biden-Xi meeting. The much-anticipated m

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