Industry, Institutions & the Invisible Forces Shaping India
Policy Post #211
Dear Reader,
This week, we’re tracking the shifts happening beneath the surface of India’s development story — the ones shaping industrial growth, local governance, and the everyday systems citizens depend on. From Bihar’s unexpected manufacturing revival to new district-level knowledge efforts and the long shadow cast by judicial delays, this edition brings together pieces that help explain India’s present by examining what sits underneath it.
As always, thank you for reading and championing better policy.
With that, we bring to you: Policy Post #211!
Policy Charcha 💬
The best of Podcasts, Videos, Essays, Fellowships and other Career resources from the world of Policy and Governance from the week gone by!
💡 Essay Highlight:
Industries Are Finally Returning to Bihar — What’s Changing?
Bihar’s long-awaited industrial revival is finally showing signs of momentum, with brands like Britannia, Zara, Van Heusen and Adani making their way back. This ground report breaks down why industry is re-entering a state that has struggled with outmigration, weak manufacturing and decades of lost investment.
📲 Highlight of the Week
The Districts Project | Maharashtra Beta Goes Live
A first-of-its-kind initiative mapping India’s districts through culture, data, history and crowdsourced insight. Led by Prof. Yugank Goyal and the Centre for Knowledge Alternatives (FLAME University), the beta version begins with Maharashtra and they’re looking for collaborators.
An ambitious step toward building one of India’s richest public knowledge tools.
📷 Video Highlight
India’s Fiscal Reality Check
A sharp, accessible walk-through of India’s current fiscal landscape — deficits, spending choices, long-term sustainability, and what the road ahead demands. A clean explainer if you’re building your fundamentals in public finance.
🔎 Databases and Guides:
Discover your ultimate career resource sheets for everything related to public policy! Our comprehensive mega-lists include 150+ hiring organisations, 200+ scholarships, and 150+ courses, podcasts and a lot more. Dive in and unlock your next big opportunity!
📚 Research Spotlight
What’s the Matter with India?
This article argues that one of India’s biggest bottlenecks isn’t about infrastructure or capital, it’s the judicial system. Decker shows how over 50 million cases are pending, enforcement is weak, and the inability to swiftly enforce contracts is undermining investment, productivity and rule of law.
✨ Spotlight of the Week
Our newest initiative at Public Policy India!
Each week, we’ll bring forward stories of people and organisations shaping India’s public policy and social impact landscape in their own unique ways. There’s thoughtful work happening across the country, and this series is simply a space to recognise it and learn from it together
This week, we’re featuring Ms. Dhriti Jain, Founder of Arth Communication. With a Master’s in development communications and months of fieldwork spent listening to communities, Dhriti saw how simple tools — booklets, games, comics and conversations can shape understanding and spark change. That experience led her to build Arth, a social-impact communication agency focused on meaningful, human-centred storytelling. Today, Arth works with non-profits, think tanks, CSR teams, government agencies and social enterprises to create IEC material, field aids, digital content, behaviour-change toolkits and advocacy campaigns that help organisations connect better with the people they serve.
🌟 Avenues for Upskilling
Public Policy Puzzle
Public Policy Puzzle (PPP) is a platform on a mission to make public policy accessible, engaging, and useful for students, young professionals, and curious citizens. Through courses, resources, and interactive formats.
🌍Climate + Health Corner
In Partnership With Swasti, The Health Catalyst
Microplastics Laden With Toxins and Pathogens Fill India’s Marketplace Air
A recent article from Nature India highlights a troubling truth: the air in India’s busy marketplaces is not only polluted with vehicle emissions, but also with microscopic plastic particles — laden with toxic chemicals and microbes, and small enough to inhale. The piece warns of what it calls a “Trojan horse” effect: plastic particles carrying carcinogens and pathogens into lungs and communities.
Careers Corner 💼
A curated list of some of the best jobs and internship opportunities this week from the world of public policy, the development sector, impact consulting and communications at large.
📩 Best bit - if you know of a job/internship opening that’s not listed here, kindly just add that as a comment on the sheet: giving 20,000+ people immediate access to it!
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That’s all for this week 💛
Thanks for learning, thinking and building with us.
See you next week.
Team Public Policy India