Spontaneous Dialogue

The marine fisheries sector in India is going through a major transformation, with new regulations put in place. The community of small-scale fishers have to navigate environmental legislations and developmental barriers, to secure viable livelihoods.

In this episode of the Spontaneous Dialogue podcast, we are joined by Mr Sebastian Mathew (Executive Secretary, International Collective in Support of Fishworkers) to discuss a human rights-based approach to fisheries.

Agricultural land in India is heavily regulated and restricted. Restrictive regulations for tenancy has meant that the formal market for tenancy is underdeveloped. Farmer's who want to leave farming, but don't want to sell their land are shackled to it because they cannot lease out their land. Reforming the tenancy laws across Indian states would benefit farmers and enable them to exit farming. This would improve productivity in the agricultural sector and improve the well-being of India's farmers.

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Prashant Narang, Senior Fellow, Research & Training Programs speaks to Swathi Pottabathini and Hitesh Bhoyar from GramHeet, about the issues that plague farming in India and the role that private businesses can play in improving the lives of farmers so they can live with dignity.

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Swati Rao, Outreach & Training Programs Expert, CCS speaks to Lyric Jain, Founder and CEO of logically.ai, about the problems associated with fake news, the work logically.ai is doing in identifying fake news using Artificial Intelligence and how fake news in general, is a big challenge for a growing economy like India.

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Prashant Narang, Associate Director, CCS speaks to Professor Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, Chair of 'Education Economics and International Development' at University College London, about the state of student learning outcomes across India.

India’s farm policy since the green revolution has not led to improved farmer productivity or income. The complex system of procuring and selling grain through the Food Corporation of India and the Public Distribution System is full of leakages and has not delivered on the promise of remunerative farming and cheap grain. This podcast explores the path forward for India's farm policy and explains the importance of having a "Second Green Revolution".

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Prashant Narang, Associate Director, CCS speaks to Mridusmita Bordoloi, Senior Researcher at the Accountability Initiative, about how school education is financed in India.

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Prashant Narang, Associate Director, CCS speaks to Professor Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, Chair of 'Education Economics and International Development' at University College London, about the state of teachers in Indian schools. In this second part, brought to you in partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, we discuss the impact of political rent-seeking on teacher salaries and more.

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Prashant Narang, Associate Director, CCS speaks to Professor Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, Chair of 'Education Economics and International Development' at University College London about the state of teachers and teacher vacancies in schools in India. They uncover some shocking revelations in the first part of this episode, brought to you in partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

In this episode of the Spontaneous Dialogues podcast, Anand Chandra from Arya Collateral Warehousing Services joins Prashant Narang, Associate Director of Research at the Centre for Civil Society to discuss the impact of the farm laws, the role that businesses can play in doubling farmer income and the legal hurdles that still exist in the agri-sector

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Prashant Narang, Associate Director, Research, CCS, speaks to author Rajeev Mantri about the "Politics of Education Reforms".

At this critical juncture, post the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), it is necessary to discuss some much needed structural reforms in education. Harsh Madhusudhan and Rajeev Mantri, in their latest book "A New Idea of India", bring forth some critical points about liberating the education system.

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The government has policies related to exports, imports, transportation, and even storage of onions. Why is the price of onions so volatile, reaching as high as Rs.180 at least once every year? 

What are the root causes? What are the solutions? Are high onion prices a manifestation of a larger problem facing Indian agriculture?

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue, Kumar Anand decodes India's onion crisis with Barun Mitra, Founder & Director of the Liberty Institute and Vivian Fernandez, Delhi-based journalist.

As the debate around the current agri-reforms refuses to settle, it's imperative to take a deep dive into these reforms and try to understand how exactly they will benefit the farmer. Why are some farmers opposing these reforms, what are the gaps, if any; and how much further are we yet to go in terms of liberalising agriculture?

In this episode of Spontaneous Dialogue with Dr Parth J Shah, President, CCS and Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, Founder, Foundation for Democratic Reforms, where we uncover answers to these questions, and many more.