NCAER faculty member Dr. Debasis Barik was invited as a panellist in one of the ICSSR Sponsored Two Days National Seminar’s thematic sessions organized by Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute in collaboration with the Directorate of Census Operations, Uttar Pradesh, and the Office of Registrar General of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
The seminar focused on the importance of large-scale data to build an Inclusive and Sustainable policy that support overall development of India. India has developed an extensive ecosystem of data collection, spanning demographic, socio-economic, health, and environmental dimensions. These datasets are pivotal in understanding trends, addressing inequities, and framing evidence-based policies. India’s data collection has expanded significantly post-independence, with surveys like the Census of India, Sample Registration System (SRS), Civil Registration System (CRS), National Sample Survey (NSS), and Environmental Statistics becoming integral to policy design. Collaborations with international organizations have introduced landmark initiatives such as the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India (LASI), and Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS), providing critical insights into health, nutrition, fertility, and socio-economic conditions.
Despite the availability of these rich datasets, a significant gap persists in their utilization due to limited awareness about their design, scope, and applications. Policymakers, researchers, and scholars often struggle to navigate the complexities of these data systems, resulting in missed opportunities for data-driven solutions to India’s pressing challenges. This seminar aimed at addressing some of these gaps by fostering a deeper understanding of the strengths, features, and limitations of India’s key population and environmental datasets. By exploring the historical evolution of India’s data landscape, the seminar underlined the importance of demographic and environmental data in shaping inclusive development. It emphasized how effectively leveraging these datasets can catalyze progress in addressing public health challenges, socio-economic disparities, and environmental sustainability. This initiative sought to empower stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to harness India’s rich data ecosystem, ensuring policies and programs are grounded in evidence and tailored to the country’s unique needs.
Dr Debasis Barik served as a resource person in a workshop “Five Days National Workshop on NSSO, NFHS and IHDS Data: Analysis for Empirical Research” organised by the Department of Economics, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, held in Kolkata Campus on November 11, 2025.
NCAER faculty member Dr. Debasis Barik delivered a special lecture at the Vidyasagar University, West Bengal. He spoke on the Implications of Hypogamous Marriage on Household Economy and Children’s Education in Contemporary India. This was organized by Department of Economics, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore.
NCAER faculty member Dr. Debasis Barik delivered a lecture in a session on Health inequality, Poverty and Life Course Effects in the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC) Platinum Jubilee International Conference on Statistics and Data Science for Development Planning on September 23rd at Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata. He discussed how economic hardships experienced throughout life affect adult mortality in India.
This conference was organized to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), which is an associate institute of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI). ISEC has regularly been conducting training programmes for international participants, the most notable being an annual ten-month diploma programme in Statistical Theory and Applications, seventy-six terms of which have already been conducted in the last 75 years.
Dr. Reshma Roshania, Associate Fellow with the National Data Innovation Centre, presented at the 10th Annual Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy Week held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at the end of June. In a session focused on the impact of policies and programmes on healthy diets, nutrition security, and agricultural production, she presented a paper co-authored with Dr. Sonalde Desai entitled “Expansion of the Public Distribution System and Impacts on Household Food Consumption: Longitudinal Evidence From India”. Dr. Roshania also chaired the conference session on Gender, Equity and Empowerment.
The ANH Academy Week is a series of annual events that bring together the community of researchers, practitioners and policymakers working at the intersection of agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and health. The objective of the ANH Academy Week is to foster knowledge exchange, innovation and learning around interdisciplinary ANH research.
The ANH Academy Week format consists of two interlinked components:
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- Learning Labs – a series of training workshops in interdisciplinary skills and knowledge for agriculture, nutrition and health research and practice;
- Research Conference – an abstract-driven symposium featuring oral presentations, poster sessions and keynote speeches, as well as plenary round tables, side events and working group discussions.
