Decoding Impact

Sattva Knowledge Institute

We often hear about the “obvious” solution to fix some of the most pressing development sector problems we face today, from poverty to nutrition, sustainability and more. Join us on Decoding Impact, with your host Rathish Balakrishnan, where we will be engaging with some of the most innovative thinkers and active doers in the social sector to understand why solving these problems is not so simple after all. If you are looking to deepen your knowledge and understand the realities and barriers to implementing and scaling solutions, join us here on Decoding Impact. read less
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Episodios

Green Roads Ahead: Decoding India’s EV and Digital Infrastructure ft. Akhil Jayaprakash & Arun Vinayak
29-06-2024
Green Roads Ahead: Decoding India’s EV and Digital Infrastructure ft. Akhil Jayaprakash & Arun Vinayak
Worldwide, roads are increasingly seeing the presence of electric vehicles (EV) and India is expected to take 30% of the EV market worldwide. However, these tailwinds are attracting many players to the EV ecosystem, from suppliers to customers, to make EVs a reality on the road. In order to ease the challenges that these stakeholders could face in coming together, Digitial Public Infrastructure could have a key role to play and could help: • Reduce frictions • Enable greater customer experience • Drive better adoption for electrical vehicles in India, especially when it comes to the charging experience To learn more about India's burgeoning EV market and understand whether the promise of DPI can enable the EV market to solve some of its current challenges, in this episode of Decoding Impact Rathish Balakrishnan is joined by Akhil Jayaprakash, co-founder at Pulse Energy, and Arun Vinayak, co-founder at Exponent Energy. Through this discussion Akhil and Arun share their expertise to help us understand who the key stakeholders are in the EV market, what is the user experience when it comes to EV today in India, and what unification using DPI could look like in the EV market. Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Decoding the Economics of MSMEs and why they should leverage Digital Public Infrastructure ft. Neelkanth Mishra • Decoding Account Aggregators with Shalini Gupta • Decoding India’s DPI Learnings for the Global South with Prof. S Rajagopalan • Decoding Digital Public Goods & Digital Public Infrastructure with Dr. Pramod Varma Guest: Akhil Jayaprakash and Arun Vinayak Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters 00:00 - Precap 01:30 - Welcome 01:43 - Topic and Guest Intro 03:28 - Akhil & Arun's journey into the EV ecosystem 08:21 - The key players in EV 11:41 - What a vertically integrated stack looks like 12:32 - The EV Market 15:51 - Summarising insights on the EV market & players 17:07- Approaching the new world with an old world mental model 26:36 - Challenges in the charging EVs 30:22 - Access to EV for different vehicles 35:45 - Understanding the user experience of the EV charging infrastructure 41:13 - Moving past the obvious solutions 48:39 - Summary and further understanding of how to solve for charging anxiety 59:10 - Achieving unification through a DPI approach 01:06:58 - Where can unification unlock value 01:10:05 - Imagining the end game 01:16:31 - Wishlist for scaling EV infrastructure in India 01:20:29 - Summary & Thanks #ElectricVehicles #EVMarketIndia #EVCharging #DigitalInfrastructure #CustomerExperience #RapidCharging #SoftwareInteroperability #ChargingInfrastructure #ConsumerConcerns #GridChallenges #RealEstateChallenges #UnifiedEVInterface #UEI #GovernmentSupport #EVStandardization #EVAdoption #ProprietaryInnovation #OpenNetwork #ExponentEnergy #PulseEnergy #Entrepreneurs #SustainableMobility #GreenTechnology #EVRevolution #CleanEnergy #FutureOfTransportation
Decoding the role of philanthropy in blended finance ft. Prachi Windlass
15-06-2024
Decoding the role of philanthropy in blended finance ft. Prachi Windlass
Philanthropy plays a vital role in the development sector naturally, however, in India today philanthropy capital accounts for only 5% of the total funding, with 95% coming from the governments. Is there a way we can reimagine the development sector, as a market place, that can manage risk in the hope of certain returns and rewards? With blended finance there is an opportunity to change how capital fuels and enables scale of impact. Within the promise of blended finance, philanthropy could play a significant, catalytic role, and in this episode of Decoding Impact host Rathish Balakrishnan is joined by Prachi Windlass, a Senior Director and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, India, to discuss: • What does blended finance look like in India today? • How does philanthropic capital and other sources of capital come together to create a blended finance model? • The maturity curve for blended finance to come in • Tangible examples of how blended finance can enable impact With the challenge of a capital shortfall to meet the total annual funding required for India to achieve the promise of the Sustainable Developement Goals by 2030, Prachi lends her experience and expertise to illustrate the true value philanthropy can unlock to enable a sustainable transformation in India's impact ecosystem. Listen to the latest episode of Decoding Impact today on Youtube! Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Decoding the Rupee for Rupee impact of blended finance ft. Ramraj Pai • Decoding Climate Finance with Varad Pande • Guidebook: CSR and Corporate Philanthropy Towards Innovation Guest: Prachi Windlass Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media
Decoding mafias, national heroes, and the role of government in Education ft. Anil Swarup
01-06-2024
Decoding mafias, national heroes, and the role of government in Education ft. Anil Swarup
"There are three types of people who work in education today: those who know the reality of a classroom, there are those who know the reality of grassroots, but there are very few who know the reality of how government looks at education." In this very special episode of Decoding Impact, host Rathish Balakrishnan is joined by Anil Swarup, Founder Chairman, Nexus of Good; Former Secretary, School Education (2016-18) & Coal (2014-16), and Author. Mr. Swarup joins us to help us decode the complex Education sector in India today and understand more about: • The visible and invisible challenges in Education • The role of the government between Delhi and the hinterlands • How to enable young adults thrive in the Indian Education system • Defining roles for different stakeholders in the Education sector Tune in to the latest episode of Decoding Impact today to understand more about the government's role in Education as well as some unique stories from Mr. Swarup's incredible Bhārat Yātra across the nation! Explore some of our SKI products related Education: • Promising Avenues: Landscape of School to Work Transition in India • Enabling Career Guidance and Mentorship for Smooth School-to-Work Transition • Advancing Gender Equality in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) Education in India • Decoding ASER for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes with Dr Rukmini Banerji Guest: Anil Swarup Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters 0:00 Precap 1:36 Welcome to Decoding Impact 1:50 Topic & Guest Introduction 03:12 Anil Swarup's journey into Education in India 06:44 The mafias in Education 14:58 Making Education politically salient 18:23 Anil Swarup's journey through education on the ground 24:31 Is Education enabling young adults in India today? 30:49 How to develop a winning aspiration for young people in India school systems 34:13 From policy to implementation 36:55 Addressing the government's mistrust in the private sector 39:58 Bringing in role clarity in school systems 44:23 Reflecting on the role of the facilitator and counselling 47:00 Understanding the role of different stakeholders in relation to the government 49:12 Who should play what role 52:10 State vs. central government capacity 54:00 Whose accountable for state outcomes? 56:30 Summary and thanks 58:11 General outro
Decoding the economics of MSMEs and why they should leverage Digital Public Infrastructure ft. Neelkanth Mishra
18-05-2024
Decoding the economics of MSMEs and why they should leverage Digital Public Infrastructure ft. Neelkanth Mishra
The story of a digitised India being catalysed through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is all around us through examples like UPI and Aadhaar, but they have an equally critical role to play in enabling the economic powerhouse that are MSMEs. MSMEs are a popular topic, and one we have discussed a few times on Decoding Impact itself, but in this episode of we are trying to understand the role DPIs can play in enabling greater and more effective access to capital for MSMEs. To share his expert inputs on the podcast, host Rathish Balakrishnan speaks to Mr. Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist, Axis Bank and Head of Global Research, Axis Capital. Mr. Mishra helps us understand: • The context of MSMEs in India today • The existing capital access and supporting infrastructure, including global examples • The key tailwinds that can enable MSMEs to grow, like DPI Through out Mr. Mishra shares tangible examples for how MSMEs operate, can scale, and their challenges. Tune in to the latest episode of Decoding Impact today! Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • SKI Content on Digital Public Infrastructure and Goods • Decoding Digital Public Goods & Digital Public Infrastructure with Dr. Pramod Varma • Decoding India’s DPI Learnings for the Global South with Prof. S Rajagopalan • Decoding Account Aggregators with Shalini Gupta Guest: Neelkanth Mishra Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters: 00:00 - Precap 01:21 - Welcome 01:31 - Topic and Guest Intro 03:04 - Neelkanth Mishra's journey from engineer to economist 05:42 - How will MSMEs contribute to India's 2047 vision? 08:44 - Understanding the role of micro enterprises amongst MSMEs 11:36 - Enabling MSMEs to flourish 15:22 - The mix of micro, small, and medium enterprises 20:15 - MSME's current access to capital & challenges 26:22 - Does India have the plumbing to enable small & growing businesses? 30:10 - The debt capital needed for MSMEs 34:31 - How countries have funded MSMEs traditionally 44:21 - How India is enabling MSMEs through technology 48:44 - Three key areas to unlock value for MSMEs through DPIs 58:34 - Solving for the MSME access to capital problem at scale 01:02:10 - What is the promise of DPI moving forward? 01:05:08 - Summary and thanks
Decoding the Rupee for Rupee impact of blended finance ft. Ramraj Pai
04-05-2024
Decoding the Rupee for Rupee impact of blended finance ft. Ramraj Pai
At the core of enabling sustainable development it comes down to how it is funded that determines the success or failure of making true and lasting progress. Currently we face a significant challenge with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, as there is a huge constraint in the lack of available funds to meet out the expense of realising these goals. So how can finance maximise impact? In this latest episode of Decoding Impact we explore the topic of Blended Finance as a potential solution that can diversify sources of capital, from both commercial and public stakeholders. Through this discussion we break down and help listeners understand what is blended finance, the nuances behind its application, the risks, and where it should not be used, the enabling ecosystem that would allow blended finance to scale, and the regulatory challenges. Joining host Rathish Balakrishnan to discuss this topic is Ramraj Pai, Senior Advisor and ex-CEO at the Impact Investors Council (IIC). From his experience in social financing, Ramraj is able to shed light on this seemingly obscure topic and explain it in a very practical and example-based manner. If you want to understand blended finance, or look at how capital can enable impact with a rupee for rupee value, tune into this episode of Decoding Impact today! Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Decoding Green Growth with Amitabh Kant• Decoding Climate Finance with Varad Pande • Guidebook: CSR and Corporate Philanthropy Towards Innovation • Investing for Impact: Social Stock Exchange in India Guest: Ramraj Pai Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters: 00:00 - Precap 01:28 - Welcome 01:38 - Topic & Guest Intro 03:05 - Ramraj Pai's journey in blended finance 06:51 - Lessons from working in the impact ecosystem 12:25 - Blended Finance for dummies 18:48 - Understanding four essential truths of blended finance 22:29 - The nuances of stakeholders in blended finance 31:14 - Summarising insights around blended finance and considering the larger framework 36:12 - Categories for blended finance application 39:41 - The role of blended finance to scale innovation 42:20 - What is limiting the supply and demand of blended finance? 47:03 - The mindset shift needed for development financing to be catalytic & innovative 50:44 - Where can funders begin their blended finance journey and how can the government enable them? 55:44 - Summarising insights on how to enable the ecosystem and infrastructure for blended finance 59:04 - Regulatory challenges 01:04:36 - Blended finance and the four stages of the innovation life cycle 01:06:54 - Summary of key insights and enabling domestic philanthropy and the Social Stock Exchange 01:12:56 - Summary and thanks
Decoding micro-irrigation for farmers and its role in India's water crisis ft. Kaushal Jaiswal
18-04-2024
Decoding micro-irrigation for farmers and its role in India's water crisis ft. Kaushal Jaiswal
A part of solving India’s water crisis lies on its farms. From soil, to grain, cultivation, to harvesting, none knows the agrarian land in India and its potential more than our farmers. By empowering farmers with technology that will help them with greater yield, while enabling water conservation for the nation, the agriculture sector in India could be transformed. The solution? Micro-irrigation. How has irrigation and the water problem evolved together in India? What is the promise of micro-irrigation? What are the barriers preventing this solution from scaling? Join Rathish Balakrishnan in the latest episode of Decoding Impact in discussion with Kaushal Jaiswal, MD at Rivulis Irrigation, for this practical discussion on micro-irrigation, the potential of India’s farmers, and a way forward to conserve water in India. Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Transforming Crop Cultivation: Advancing Water Efficiency in Indian Agriculture • Worsening Water Stress in Agriculture: Is There a Glimmer of Hope? Guest: Kaushal Jaiswal Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Time Stamps & Chapters: 00:00 - Precap01:35 - Welcome01:55 - Topic intro03:02 - Guest intro07:08 - How has discussing irrigation and the water problem evolved in India10:00 - Micro-irrigation as a practice in the North vs. the South of India13:01 - The invisible cost of water in agriculture14:45 - Understanding the value of drip irrigation19:44 - Are benefits of micro-irrigation visible to the farmer?23:08 - Why is the adoption of micro-irrigation so low in India today?30:59 - The role of AI in democratising micro-irrgation systems and set-up.33:07 - The maintenance of micro-irrigation systems35:27 - The solution to scaling micro-irrigation38:53 - Reducing the friction for financing & the role of subsidies41:58 - Scaling micro-irrigation for 1 million farmers43:18 - The most investable solutions to scale micro-irrigation in agriculture45:09 - Crops to prioritise for micro-irrigation48:22 - Regions to prioritise for micro-irrigation49:19 - The market for micro-irrigation in East India52:23 - Financing micro-irrigation through climate financing56:05 - Summary and Thanks58:57 - Outro
Decoding the systemic challenges of women in agriculture ft. Ireena Vittal
05-04-2024
Decoding the systemic challenges of women in agriculture ft. Ireena Vittal
The recent interim budget focused on how to enable women farmers, looking at how they can be raised up along with other smallholder farmers across India. Today, in certain key agricultural value chains like sugarcane, women make up 50% of the workforce. Yet their work is significantly undervalued as they face a 60% pay gap. This speaks to the deeper systemic challenges women in agriculture face, with their role and contributions being largely obscured. In the first episode of season 3 of Decoding Impact Rathish Balakrishnan spoke with Ireena Vittal, one of India's most respected independent consultants and advisors in agriculture, emerging markets and urban development. Through the episode they discussed: • How certain key agricultural value chains operate • Making all agricultural value chains equitable for all smallholder farmers regardless of gender • How women in agriculture can help themselves within these value chains through self help groups and collectivisation • The nuanced interplay of social norms impacting the economic empowerment of women Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Gender Inclusivity in Commercial Agriculture • Formalising the Female Workforce in Indian Agriculture Guest: Ireena Vittal Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Time Stamps & Chapters: 0:00 - Precap 1:20 - Introduction 2:59 - Guest Introduction 3:33 - Ireena Vittal’s Journey 5:00 - The invisibility of women in Agriculture 8:37 - The power equation for women in Agriculture 13:20 - The power of Collectives for women in Agriculture 16:27 - The systemic issues in agriculture - How do we address these? 17:28 - Understanding different agriculture value chains (part 1) 23:33 - Understanding different agriculture value chains (part 2 31:04 - Challenges in the Indian agriculture industry inhibiting smallholder farmers) 36:09 - The role of businesses in catalysing equitable agriculture 40:57 - Women in agriculture need better pay 45:17 - Women need to participate in the market 51:53 - Solutions to empower women in agriculture 55:01 - Shifting the gender equation at the intermediary layer in agriculture 58:12 - Summary & thanks 58:52 - Outro
Decoding Account Aggregators with Shalini Gupta
27-10-2023
Decoding Account Aggregators with Shalini Gupta
Despite gains in its financial inclusion journey, access to financial services is limited to 86% of India's population. Access to credit specifically is a persistent challenge, reflected in the unmet credit need of Rs 25 lakh crores - aggravated by disaggregated data and tedious data sharing processes. Account aggregators are introducing open banking in India. They have the potential to revolutionise the credit market, empowering millions of customers to access and share their financial data across institutions in a secure and efficient manner. To talk more about account aggregators and how these can enable financial digital inclusion, we have with us Shalini Gupta, the Head of Strategy at Sahamati. Sahamati is a member-driven industry alliance formed to facilitate adoption of the account aggregator ecosystem in India. ---- For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our ⁠Website⁠, ⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | Twitter Guest: Shalini Gupta | LinkedIn Producer: Anagha Wankhede Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu ---- Content Sections 00:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction 00:48 - Introduction to the topic and guest 02:32 - What is an Account Aggregator? 06:40 - What financial information is viable and who will use it? 10:21 - Personal Finance Management (PFM) Use Cases 13:14 - How big is the AA system today? 15:37 - A User's Journey in the AA Framework 18:17 - Common AA Apps 18:59 - Value in Data Sharing 24:53 - Resolving Conflicts of Purpose between Financial Entities 28:40 - A New Approach to Gauging Financial Health 34:36 - What is Sahamati's Role? 37:59 - How can Account Aggregators Unlock Value? 50:30 - The Interplay of OCEN and AA 55:57 - PFM for Women 59:11 - Account Aggregators for the Government 1:03:01 - What needs to fall in place? 1:08:02 - Employing Imagination to Utilise AA 1:13:54 - The Role of Philanthropic Capital 1:19:02 - Summary and outro
Decoding a Life Cycle Approach to Mental Health with Dr. Pratima Murthy
10-10-2023
Decoding a Life Cycle Approach to Mental Health with Dr. Pratima Murthy
India is grappling with a severe mental health crisis, with over 197 million Indians diagnosed with mental disorders, exacerbated by a wide treatment gap. The good news is that there is growing recognition of the importance of mental health in the country. However, a thorough understanding of what it entails, what forms mental well-being takes, how it should be approached and conceptualised, is lacking. Mental well-being is intertwined with economic, cultural, social and other factors at various stages of an individual’s life. Effective interventions, therefore, should be contextualised to these aspects. How can public policy, market solutions and community solutions be designed with these in mind? Joining us on World Mental Health Day to share her reflections on making mental health a key part of India’s development agenda, is Dr Pratima Murthy. Dr. Murthy is the Director of NIMHANS, where she has been pivotal in initiating Tele Manas, and establishing the state-of-the-art Centre for Addiction. She has also worked with the National Human Rights Commission to improve care for persons with mental illness. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our ⁠Website⁠, LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | Twitter Guest: Dr. Pratima Murthy | Linkedin Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections: 00:48 Introduction to the topic and guest 02:14 Why is mental well-being critical? 04:17 Recognising interconnections 08:10 Vocabulary and mental models 12:22 Context-specific intervention design 15:38 Designing population-scale interventions 23:11 Perinatal well-being 26:06 Mental health in schools 36:01 Mental health in workplaces 39:42 Prisons as a crucial locus 44:55 Mental health for the elderly 47:54 Improving access to care 51:41 Designing mental well-being models 58:22 Recommendations for philanthropy 1:02:15 Summary and Outro
Decoding Universal Health Coverage with Dr. Nachiket Mor (Part 2)
15-09-2023
Decoding Universal Health Coverage with Dr. Nachiket Mor (Part 2)
In Part 2 of our discussion on Universal Health Coverage, host Rathish Balakrishnan and guest Dr Nachiket Mor dive into the need to define the right problems while taking a digital public goods approach to UHC, challenges with financing, and lessons from other countries. They also discuss how the private and public sectors can rethink existing approaches to healthcare delivery, and collaborate to implement an efficient working model for UHC in India. Dr. Nachiket Mor is trained as an economist. His current work is principally focused on the design of national and regional health systems. He is a Visiting Scientist at The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy at IIIT Bangalore. He is also a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Reimagining India's Health System. Listen to Part 1 here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5rsqLW3phlu3XLRgX1kteg For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our ⁠Website⁠, ⁠LinkedIn, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠.Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | Twitter Guest: Dr. Nachiket Mor | Linkedin | Twitter Producer: Meenakshi IyerAudio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash RaikarDesigner: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections0:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction0:48 - Introduction to topic and guest02:13 - Accelerating UHC with Digital Public Goods07:02 - Articulation of DPGS16:04 -Promises of Healthcare19:23 - Financing in UHC23:21 - Incentives for public health26:35 - Managed Care29:56 - Making Strategic Purchases effective34:30 - District as a unit35:37 - Private Sector Participation Models44:23 - White spaces47:40 - Imagining a Working Model in Health52:06 - Summary and Outro
Decoding Universal Health Coverage with Dr. Nachiket Mor (Part 1)
08-09-2023
Decoding Universal Health Coverage with Dr. Nachiket Mor (Part 1)
Globally, universal health coverage (UHC) has been highlighted as an important goal, because of its close links to poverty reduction and potential to enhance the economic growth of countries. From public to private health care, across primary, secondary, and tertiary care, and whether we look at the challenges and opportunities for physicians or community health workers, the promise of UHC is heady and exciting. Through this two-part discussion with Dr. Nachiket Mor, not only an expert in health, but someone who is deeply passionate about health and health systems, host Rathish Balakrishnan explores the plethora of trade-offs and barriers to realising UHC in India. In part one of this discussion Dr. Mor helps us understand what universal health coverage is, highlights existing bright spots, looks at the role of primary care, and discusses how we can talilor an approach to UHC that leverages India’s strengths. Dr. Nachiket Mor is trained as an economist. His current work is principally focused on the design of national and regional health systems. He is a Visiting Scientist at The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy at IIIT Bangalore. He is also a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Reimagining India's Health System. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our ⁠Website⁠, ⁠Linkedin⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | TwitterGuest: Dr. Nachiket Mor | Linkedin | TwitterProducer: Meenakshi IyerAudio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash RaikarDesigner: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections 0:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction0:47 - Introduction to topic and guest02:47 - Where is India in relation to Universal Health Coverage today?09:58 - The People vs. Politics of UHC13:14 - Building things for the greater good rather than to feel good15:55 - Key levers to think about UHC20:45 - Understanding the Indian context21:57 - What is working well & opportunites in India24: 57 - More examples in India of what is working well26:52 - Building a multidisciplinary approach top down29:52 - The missing tissue between ideas and intent32:05 - Finding solutions and how to think about financing UHC36:44 - Evolving the role of community health aids for UHC43:21 - Learnability of community health aids44:42 - The effect of localising community workers46:11 - Avoiding the pitfalls of isomorphic mimicry50:52 - Reflection and opportunities52:41 - Understanding the true cost of UHC for India01:00:08 - We need a high trust system to realise UHC01:05:33 - Summary and Outro
Decoding Agricultural Technology (Agritech) with Parmesh Shah
25-08-2023
Decoding Agricultural Technology (Agritech) with Parmesh Shah
Technology has the potential to revolutionise Indian agriculture. There are innovations in seed and bioengineering platforms, use of robots and AI and blockchain that are enhancing efficiency and transparency in the sector. India's agritech industry comprises over 1300 companies and is projected to reach over ₹1 trillion by 2025. The recent 2023-24 budget allocated INR 450 crores to the Digital Agriculture Mission and INR 600 crores for technology driven agriculture promotion. However, despite these promising tailwinds, the low adoption of technology by farmers remains a major challenge, and agritech penetration in India remains abysmally low at around 1%. In today's episode of Decoding Impact, we try to understand the potential of a platform-based approach for agritech, the importance of directing the right capital to address the right issues, and how we can take a systems approach to identify key enablers for the successful scale up of agritech. Our guest for this episode is Mr. Parmesh Shah, the Global Lead for Data, Digital Agriculture and Innovation at the Agriculture and Food Global Practice of the World Bank. Mr. Shah is currently managing a global programme on scaling up data-driven digital agriculture, involving data platforms and establishing ecosystems for innovation, entrepreneurship and incubation across 38 countries. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our Website⁠, Linkedin⁠, Instagram, and Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | TwitterGuest: Parmesh Shah | Linkedin | TwitterProducer: Meenakshi IyerAudio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash RaikarDesigner: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections: 0:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction0:48 - Introduction to topic and guest02:37 - The current agri tech landscape05:58 - Defining agtech solutions & tech10:03 - Successful solution categories13:53 - The need for physical plus digital infrastructure23:41 - 5 key principles25:46 - Systemic challenges to agtech adoption33:49 - Understanding platforms and agri tech42:20 - Summarising the platform "cake" layers43:35 - Different types of capital49:22 - Building a platform-based approach57:25 - Challenges for big business and the State01:04:10 - Role of Philanthropy01:07:20 - Summary and thanks
Decoding Nano Entrepreneurs with Priya Naik
18-08-2023
Decoding Nano Entrepreneurs with Priya Naik
India is known for its large companies across manufacturing and technology, but what often goes unnoticed is that a large part of the employment in this country is actually driven by Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). MSMEs contribute to more than 30% of India's GDP, and 11 million of these are in fact very, very small. These comprise the segment of MSMEs known as nano entrepreneurs, with an annual turnover between ten lakhs and one crore. On this episode of Decoding Impact, host Rathish Balakrishnan speaks with Priya Naik, Founder and CEO at Samhita Social Ventures, to discuss who are these nano entrepreneurs, what are their challenges, and how can the ecosystem catalyse their potential to become growth engines for the Indian economy. Priya has two decades of experience in impact and entrepreneurship and has worked with International Finance Corporation, the Poverty Action Lab at MIT, and Arthur Andersen. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our Website⁠, Linkedin⁠, Instagram, and Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | TwitterGuest: Priya Naik | LinkedinProducer: Meenakshi IyerAudio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash RaikarDesigner: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections: 0:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction0:48 - Introduction to topic and guest01:43 - Who are nano entrepreneurs?03:02 - Sustainability and scale06:12 - The challenges for nano entrepreneurs14:02 - Overcoming challenges for nano entrepreneurs22:08 - Tailoring for the nano entrepreneurs24:33 - Market first or philanthropy first?30:06 - Gender and entrepreneurship35:52 - The growth curve for women entrepreneurs42:36 - Formalisation of the marketplace49:20 - Preparing nano entrepreneurs for success53:20 - Growing and enabling the nano entrepreneurs ecosystem59:00 - Summary and thanks
Decoding India’s DPI Learnings for the Global South with Professor S Rajagopalan
31-07-2023
Decoding India’s DPI Learnings for the Global South with Professor S Rajagopalan
Do we take the possibilities enabled by the unique identification system of Aadhar for granted in India today? Certain reports estimate that 850 million people around the world do not have an official ID, and that around 133 countries today do not have a digital payment system. Through India's digitisation revolution we have made leaps and bounds in how people can be uniquely identified for social welfare needs and how they can use that identity to manage basic civic rights like accessing financial services, government support, and even applying for a job. So how can more countries benefit from what we are doing today in India, in a manner which builds the agency of the country to deliver better welfare for their people? To discuss this host Rathish Balakrishnan had an opportunity to speak to Professor S Rajagopalan for this episode of Decoding Impact. Professor S Rajagopalan, is currently the president of MOSIP & OpenG2P, both housed under IIIT, Bangalore. He is an entrepreneur, teacher, advisor and advocate, and his subject matter expertise and interests include innovation dissemination, economics of innovations, Geographical Information systems, and Economics of Information Technologies. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our Website⁠, Linkedin⁠, Instagram, and Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | Twitter Guest: Professor S Rajagopalan | LinkedinProducer: Meenakshi Iyer Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash RaikarDesigner: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections: 0:51 - Introduction to topic and guest02:53 - Understanding MOSIP06:35 - Why is a unique identity important?10:36 - How are other countries looking at identity?11:55 - Drawbacks to using other systems14:28 - Which countries are using MOSIP today?17:27 - Timelines to implement MOSIP in other countries19:38 - How countries are enabled to implement MOSIP24:01 - Reactions and interacting with other countries27:16 - Tailoring approaches for each country29:33 - Transferrable use of DPIs33:58 - Value unlocked through DPIs36:00 - Other opportunities and applications41:45 - Accelerating adoption of DPIs43:59 - Global tailwinds for adoption45:07 - The DPI and DPG mental model50:26 - The role of philanthropy54:36 - Summary and thanks
Decoding ASER for FLN Outcomes with Dr. Rukmini Banerji
14-07-2023
Decoding ASER for FLN Outcomes with Dr. Rukmini Banerji
Education is the Harry Potter of the social sector. Everybody loves it. Everybody puts money into it. Yet, why aren't we seeing sweeping outcomes? As per the Annual Status of Education Report or ASER 2022, in India the enrolment rate for primary schools stands at the highest it has ever been in Indian education history at 98.4%. However, only 42.8% of grade five students are able to read at grade level text. Assessment and measuring foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) outcomes has been thrust to the forefront of understanding what the problems in education are today, so that they can be solved more effectively. To discuss this and more on Decoding Impact, host Rathish Balakrishnan cuaght up with the CEO of Pratham Education Foundation, Dr. Rukmini Banerji. Dr. Banerji is an accomplished educationist, who advocates for data-driven education reforms and she has spearheaded the development of notable large-scale assessments, including the widely recognised ASER. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our ⁠Website⁠, ⁠Linkedin⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | TwitterGuest: Dr. Rukmini Banerji | LinkedinProducer: Meenakshi IyerAudio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections 0:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction0:51 - Introduction to topic and guest02:57 - The origin story of ASER15:16 - How ASER was adopted nationally and learnings23:48 - What has made ASER successful?31:28 - ASER is a true public good32:16 - ASER as a social movement37:17 - Education trends post COVID43:56 - The Big Jump for FLN50:10 - Its not about reading, its about self-confidence50:56 - Government role, natural disasters, and successful state interventions57:20 - Summary and thanks