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        In line with our continuous endeavour to bring up discussion on pertinent issues related to the Indian economy, this issue of PRAGATI carries a wide variety in the chosen topics for research from ‘diversity and employment generation’ to ‘forests and carbon sink’ and ‘inflation beliefs in India.’ The topics are new and sometimes novel. This issue does hint towards a change in the variety of research agendas.

One of the papers is on ‘Diversity, tourism and employment generation: A strategic perspective on India’ by Dr. Archana Mishra. The paper attempts to explain how diversity could lead to employment creation in the tourism sector in India. Employing a qualitative methodology along with literature review followed by a data-based perspective, the author attempts to link Indian diversity with employment generation possibilities in the tourism sector. 

Mr. Chandra Kant Parmar and Dr. Partha Pratim Ghosh, in their paper on ‘Performance evaluation of developers of Special Economic Zones in IT/ITeS Sector: A study with reference to the state of Haryana” mention that all the operating SEZs in Haryana is in IT/ITeS industry, showing concentration in one sector. Moreover, a large number of non-operational SEZs could not get started even after being notified a decade before. This is not only blocking the huge unused industrial land but is also adversely affecting the state’s competitiveness. 

        This issue of PRAGATI has two papers that have examined the impact of Covid-19 on different aspects of the Indian economy. The first one is on ‘Impact of Covid-19 on digital payments: A study with special reference to UPI’ by Dr. Pallavi Vyas and Prof. Dharmendra Mistry which finds that there was a negative or declining growth rate in UPI during the first and second wave lockdown of Covid-19 and a significant difference between the number of member banks and the size of UPI transactions. However, if we take into account the entire Covid-19 period since it broke out in India, the overall impact of Covid on the growth rate of UPI remained more or less unchanged. The other paper by Mr. Rakesh Kumar and Prof. Aparna Negi empirically estimates the impact of COVID-19, and lockdown on the most affected sectors of Himachal Pradesh. The state being a major tourist destination registered a drastic fall in tourist inflow which translated into a major fall in the GSDP contribution from hotels and restaurants and transport.  

          An interesting and novel paper by Ms. Viha Sharma and Ms. Shradha Khandelwal is on ‘A graphical case study of inflation beliefs in India: Key socio-demographics’. The paper concludes that women, younger respondents, financial sector employees, other category employees as well as respondents from cities with higher GSDP states have a more insightful understanding of inflation trends and are more accurate in their inflation rate deductions. Periods of economic uncertainty and volatility are marked with a conspicuous upward bias, polarisation, and inaccuracy in household inflation beliefs. 

        Dr. Saswati Chaudhuri and Ms. Samriddhi Nahata, in their paper, examine the determinants of son preference in India through an empirical analysis. NFHS-4 state-level data is used to understand the causal factors of maternal son preference at different levels. Using multiple linear regression models, it is concluded that factors like belonging to a specific religion, female employment, and mother’s education are statistically significant and a rise in them is seen to lower maternal son preference. 

        There are two case studies in this issue. Mrs. Utkarsha Sharma and Dr. Anima Vaish in their paper on ‘Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Yojana: Analysing the affordable health insurance model’ explore the benefits of the newly launched scheme ‘Mukhya Mantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana’ (MCY) by the Rajasthan government. The paper analyses the crowding-out effect of private health insurance companies by comparing and contrasting the features of MCY and private health insurance. The authors suggest that the MCY scheme can be used as a model by other states resulting in affordable healthcare for all”. The other study with a unique focus is about ‘Forests of Madhya Pradesh as potential carbon sink: An analytical study’ by Dr. Geetu Chaudhary and Dr. Tanima Dutta. Their study on forest protection in Madhya Pradesh elaborates on the benefits that decentralisation and liberalising of governance in forest and forest resources has brought to the state driving across the fact that how better coordination between government regulations, community and market forces can result in conservation of nature and positive livelihoods for people dependent on it. 

        It is heartening to note that in spite of restrictions and prevailing conditions of uncertainty, scholars have been continuing with their interest areas. As mentioned, this issue contains some unique topics of interest.

Wishing all our readers a happy and prosperous 2022!