Aashish Gupta

Despite India's rapid economic growth in recent decades, open defecation rates continue to be very high. This presents a unique puzzle for scholars of development because other regions where people are poorer, literacy rates lower, and drinking water more scarce, are better off that India when it comes to open defecation.

NREGA is widely criticized to be a program that creates 'empty' work for the sole purpose of employment, and does not extend itself to developing assets. This criticism is often made without supporting data, as there has been little research on asset creation through NREGA.