Commentary

The ontological vocation of any social science is to interpret and transform the world we live in, creating a better society. The discipline of economics is no exception. It is argued that mainstream economics reduces social life into exchange value calculus and mathematical formalism, and fails to confront vital issues like widening inequality and poverty. The recent challenges thrown up by Thomas Piketty may help the discipline to re-examine its epistemological foundations to facilitate relevant teaching and research as well as policy choices.

Implementation of the environmental agendas put forward in the election manifestos of 2014 of eight major political parties is found to be unsatisfactory. There is a need for more synergy between the election agendas and their implementation to tackle environmental issues and the impacts of climate change.

The National Waterways Act, 2016 declared 111 rivers as National Inland Waterways. Even as these waterways open up for commercial shipping and navigation, and for interventions like dredging, river training, construction of terminals, and land acquisition, the legally binding regime of environmental clearance is evaded.

There are two types of public transport riders: choice and captive. Key captivity factors could be higher generalised costs of alternative transport and inability to drive (age, medical conditions, etc). In this context, the travel behaviour of the urban poor in Ahmedabad—most of whom are captive riders unable to access private transport and therefore dependent on public transport—is studied.

Demand-side information on the economic profiles of households is available from the All-India Debt and Investment Survey and Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households. However, there have been no surveys of rural households during the intervening years with an emphasis on financial inclusion and financial accessibility, as perceived by them. To bridge this gap, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development launched the All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey for the reference year July 2015–June 2016.