Curriculum India's Big Policy Debates
India's Big Policy Debates
The economic arguments behind India's most contested policy questions - farm laws, legal MSP, old vs new pensions, cash transfers to women, urban job guarantees, free power, bank privatisation, taxing farm income, GST reform and the caste census - with both sides laid out.
- How to Think About a Policy Debate A simple framework for weighing any economic policy argument - goals, trade-offs, evidence, winners and losers, and costs - before taking a side. 📄 Read-aloud
- The 2020 Farm Laws and Their Repeal What the three 2020 farm laws aimed to change in agricultural marketing, why farmers protested for over a year, and what the episode teaches about reform. 📄 Read-aloud
- Should MSP Be a Legal Guarantee? The farmers' demand for a legally guaranteed minimum support price for all major crops, and the economic arguments about costs, markets and alternatives. 📄 Read-aloud
- Old Pension, New Pension or Unified Pension? Why India moved government employees from guaranteed pensions to a contributory system in 2004, why some states went back, and how the 2025 Unified Pension Scheme tries to balance the two. 📄 Read-aloud
- Monthly Cash Transfers to Women Why many Indian states started paying women a fixed monthly amount, what these schemes might achieve, and the debate over their fiscal cost. 📄 Read-aloud
- Should Cities Have a Job Guarantee? Whether India should extend an MGNREGA-style employment guarantee to cities, what states like Rajasthan and Kerala have tried, and the costs and design challenges. 📄 Read-aloud
- India's Big Policy Debates: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on policy thinking, the farm laws, legal MSP, pensions and cash transfers to women. 5 questions
- Free Electricity and the Health of Power Companies Why free or cheap power for farmers and households is popular, how it strains state electricity distribution companies, and the reforms under debate. 📄 Read-aloud
- Should India Privatise Public Sector Banks? The arguments for and against selling government-owned banks, what happened after the 2021 budget announcement, and what evidence says about bank ownership. 📄 Read-aloud
- Should India Tax Agricultural Income? Why income from farming is exempt from central income tax, whether wealthy farmers should pay, and the practical and political obstacles. 📄 Read-aloud
- Simplifying GST: The 2025 Reform and What's Left How India simplified its GST rate structure in September 2025, the arguments for fewer rates, and the unresolved questions about fuel, alcohol and revenue. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Caste Census Debate Why India's next census will count caste for the first time since 1931, the economic arguments for better data, and the concerns raised. 📄 Read-aloud
- Evidence and Politics in Indian Policymaking How evidence, institutions and politics interact in Indian economic policy, how citizens can follow debates critically, and a recap of the module. 📄 Read-aloud