Swachh Bharat Mission linked to lower Child Mortality + What happened to Public Corporations?
Policy Post #158
Dear Reader, Trust you're well! This week, we bring you an insightful study on the impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) on infant and child mortality rates across India. The mission’s success highlights how improved sanitation can lead to significant health benefits.
We also discuss research findings that smaller local governments, especially gram panchayats with fewer than 1,000 people, enhance access to public services. This week’s video highlight explores why fewer companies are choosing to go public—an intriguing shift with broad implications.
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With that, we bring to you: Policy Post #158!
This Week’s Policy Focus 🔎
A study by IFPRI, the University of California, and Ohio State University found that the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched in 2014, significantly reduced infant and child mortality in India. SBM led to the construction of 109 million toilets, helping 600,000 villages achieve open defecation-free status. Districts with more than 30% of toilets saw a decrease of 5.3 infant deaths and 6.8 child deaths per 1,000 births. The infant mortality rate also declined by 8-9% annually post-SBM, highlighting sanitation’s crucial role in improving public health outcomes.
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!
💡 Research Highlight:
Research shows that smaller local governments in India, particularly gram panchayats with populations under 1,000, enable better access to public services. Villages in these areas experience improved workfare (+16%), education, roads, fair-price shops, toilets (+18%), housing quality, and health insurance—largely due to increased civic engagement and stronger political incentives.
📝 Article Highlight:
How is the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) gradually losing its traditional grip on high-ranking bureaucratic roles? A new trend under the Modi government is shifting the power balance in favour of officers from other civil services, stirring debates about the future of India’s administrative structure.
🔎 Databases and Guides:
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▶️Video Highlight:
👉🏽 From Apple to Sony and Adidas, many of the world’s most famous companies are also public corporations, meaning anyone can invest in them. Yet these days, fewer firms in wealthy economies are organising as corporations—and many appear to have little interest in going public. But why? And what does the trend mean for investors and economies?
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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.
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