Dear Reader,
How much should the state decide for its citizens, and how much should it simply step back? This week, our highlights revolve around that tension. Our essay highlight asks if India risks becoming a “nanny state,” and where the line between protection and personal freedom should be drawn.
Our video highlight features Ajay Shah in a sweeping lecture on regulation in India. In the climate+health corner a UN report highlights great strides for India in under-5 child survival. In our community update, we celebrate our community’s very first PPI meetup in Bhubaneswar. Many more to come in the future!
As always, thank you for reading and championing better policy.
With that, we bring to you: Policy Post #204!
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:
The Nanny State – Where Do We Draw the Line?
Should the government protect us from ourselves? In lieu of the government’s crack down on the online gaming industry. This essay wrestles with a core dilemma in governance: how to balance state responsibility with individual freedom. From regulation to personal choice, it’s a timely provocation on what it means to trust citizens in a democracy.
👥 Community highlight
PPI City Chapter meet up- Bhubaneswar
Our city chapter in Bhubaneswar held its first meetup at the SAFE Odisha for Her head office. The organisation, founded by Pranay, is a Section 8 non-profit working on issues that range from creating violence-free villages to empowering women entrepreneurs in remote areas.
The discussion brought together passionate voices on gender, justice, and community empowerment, a perfect start to what we hope will be many such conversations in Odisha!
🔎 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!
🌟 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.
▶️Video Highlight:
Rethinking Regulation in India
This lecture is a masterclass on India’s regulatory journey, covering its economic history, the struggles of building effective regulators, and the big design principles that can make institutions more accountable, transparent, and independent. From clarity of purpose to separation of powers, Ajay Shah walks us through both lessons learned and pathways forward, tying it all back to the global literature.
🌍Climate + Health Corner
In Partnership With Swasti, The Health Catalyst
👉🏽 UN report highlights great strides for India in under-5 child survival
A new UNICEF report shows that India has achieved a 78% decline in under-five mortality between 1990 and 2023—higher than the South Asia average of 73.2% and well above the global average of 60.6% The climate change, inequities, and health system pressures pose ongoing challenges, these numbers remind us that sustained policy focus, institutional investments, and grassroots action can deliver real lives saved.
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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