Decoding Impact with Rathish Balakrishnan

"There are three types of people who work in education today: those who know the reality of a classroom, there are those who know the reality of grassroots, but there are very few who know the reality of how government looks at education." In this very special episode of Decoding Impact, host Rathish Balakrishnan is joined by Anil Swarup, Founder Chairman, Nexus of Good; Former Secretary, School Education (2016-18) & Coal (2014-16), and Author. Mr. Swarup joins us to help us decode the complex Education sector in India today and understand more about: • The visible and invisible challenges in Education • The role of the government between Delhi and the hinterlands • How to enable young adults thrive in the Indian Education system • Defining roles for different stakeholders in the Education sector Tune in to the latest episode of Decoding Impact today to understand more about the government's role in Education as well as some unique stories from Mr. Swarup's incredible Bhārat Yātra across the nation! Explore some of our SKI products related Education: • Promising Avenues: Landscape of School to Work Transition in India • Enabling Career Guidance and Mentorship for Smooth School-to-Work Transition • Advancing Gender Equality in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) Education in India • Decoding ASER for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes with Dr Rukmini Banerji Guest: Anil Swarup Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters 0:00 Precap 1:36 Welcome to Decoding Impact 1:50 Topic & Guest Introduction 03:12 Anil Swarup's journey into Education in India 06:44 The mafias in Education 14:58 Making Education politically salient 18:23 Anil Swarup's journey through education on the ground 24:31 Is Education enabling young adults in India today? 30:49 How to develop a winning aspiration for young people in India school systems 34:13 From policy to implementation 36:55 Addressing the government's mistrust in the private sector 39:58 Bringing in role clarity in school systems 44:23 Reflecting on the role of the facilitator and counselling 47:00 Understanding the role of different stakeholders in relation to the government 49:12 Who should play what role 52:10 State vs. central government capacity 54:00 Whose accountable for state outcomes? 56:30 Summary and thanks 58:11 General outro

Get to know more about our latest guest featured on Decoding Impact, ⁠Neelkanth Mishra, through this revealing rapid fire! Listen to the latest episode of Decoding Impact!: 🔴 ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠ 🟣 ⁠⁠Apple Podcast⁠⁠ 🔵 ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ 🔗 ⁠⁠Website

The story of a digitised India being catalysed through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is all around us through examples like UPI and Aadhaar, but they have an equally critical role to play in enabling the economic powerhouse that are MSMEs. MSMEs are a popular topic, and one we have discussed a few times on Decoding Impact itself, but in this episode of we are trying to understand the role DPIs can play in enabling greater and more effective access to capital for MSMEs. To share his expert inputs on the podcast, host Rathish Balakrishnan speaks to Mr. Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist, Axis Bank and Head of Global Research, Axis Capital. Mr. Mishra helps us understand: • The context of MSMEs in India today • The existing capital access and supporting infrastructure, including global examples • The key tailwinds that can enable MSMEs to grow, like DPI Through out Mr. Mishra shares tangible examples for how MSMEs operate, can scale, and their challenges. Tune in to the latest episode of Decoding Impact today! Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • SKI Content on Digital Public Infrastructure and Goods • Decoding Digital Public Goods & Digital Public Infrastructure with Dr. Pramod Varma • Decoding India’s DPI Learnings for the Global South with Prof. S Rajagopalan • Decoding Account Aggregators with Shalini Gupta Guest: Neelkanth Mishra Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters: 00:00 - Precap 01:21 - Welcome 01:31 - Topic and Guest Intro 03:04 - Neelkanth Mishra's journey from engineer to economist 05:42 - How will MSMEs contribute to India's 2047 vision? 08:44 - Understanding the role of micro enterprises amongst MSMEs 11:36 - Enabling MSMEs to flourish 15:22 - The mix of micro, small, and medium enterprises 20:15 - MSME's current access to capital & challenges 26:22 - Does India have the plumbing to enable small & growing businesses? 30:10 - The debt capital needed for MSMEs 34:31 - How countries have funded MSMEs traditionally 44:21 - How India is enabling MSMEs through technology 48:44 - Three key areas to unlock value for MSMEs through DPIs 58:34 - Solving for the MSME access to capital problem at scale 01:02:10 - What is the promise of DPI moving forward? 01:05:08 - Summary and thanks

Get to know more about our latest guest featured on Decoding Impact, Ramraj Pai, through this revealing rapid fire! Listen to the latest episode of Decoding Impact!: 🔴 ⁠Youtube⁠ 🟣 ⁠Apple Podcast⁠ 🔵 ⁠Amazon⁠ 🔗 ⁠Website

At the core of enabling sustainable development it comes down to how it is funded that determines the success or failure of making true and lasting progress. Currently we face a significant challenge with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, as there is a huge constraint in the lack of available funds to meet out the expense of realising these goals. So how can finance maximise impact? In this latest episode of Decoding Impact we explore the topic of Blended Finance as a potential solution that can diversify sources of capital, from both commercial and public stakeholders. Through this discussion we break down and help listeners understand what is blended finance, the nuances behind its application, the risks, and where it should not be used, the enabling ecosystem that would allow blended finance to scale, and the regulatory challenges. Joining host Rathish Balakrishnan to discuss this topic is Ramraj Pai, Senior Advisor and ex-CEO at the Impact Investors Council (IIC). From his experience in social financing, Ramraj is able to shed light on this seemingly obscure topic and explain it in a very practical and example-based manner. If you want to understand blended finance, or look at how capital can enable impact with a rupee for rupee value, tune into this episode of Decoding Impact today! Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Decoding Green Growth with Amitabh Kant• Decoding Climate Finance with Varad Pande • Guidebook: CSR and Corporate Philanthropy Towards Innovation • Investing for Impact: Social Stock Exchange in India Guest: Ramraj Pai Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters: 00:00 - Precap 01:28 - Welcome 01:38 - Topic & Guest Intro 03:05 - Ramraj Pai's journey in blended finance 06:51 - Lessons from working in the impact ecosystem 12:25 - Blended Finance for dummies 18:48 - Understanding four essential truths of blended finance 22:29 - The nuances of stakeholders in blended finance 31:14 - Summarising insights around blended finance and considering the larger framework 36:12 - Categories for blended finance application 39:41 - The role of blended finance to scale innovation 42:20 - What is limiting the supply and demand of blended finance? 47:03 - The mindset shift needed for development financing to be catalytic & innovative 50:44 - Where can funders begin their blended finance journey and how can the government enable them? 55:44 - Summarising insights on how to enable the ecosystem and infrastructure for blended finance 59:04 - Regulatory challenges 01:04:36 - Blended finance and the four stages of the innovation life cycle 01:06:54 - Summary of key insights and enabling domestic philanthropy and the Social Stock Exchange 01:12:56 - Summary and thanks

Get to know more about our latest guest featured on Decoding Impact, Mr. Kaushal Jaiswal, through this revealing rapid fire! Listen to the latest episode of Decoding Impact!: 🔴 Youtube 🟣 Apple Podcast 🔵 Amazon 🔗 Website

A part of solving India’s water crisis lies on its farms. From soil, to grain, cultivation, to harvesting, none knows the agrarian land in India and its potential more than our farmers. By empowering farmers with technology that will help them with greater yield, while enabling water conservation for the nation, the agriculture sector in India could be transformed. The solution? Micro-irrigation. How has irrigation and the water problem evolved together in India? What is the promise of micro-irrigation? What are the barriers preventing this solution from scaling? Join Rathish Balakrishnan in the latest episode of Decoding Impact in discussion with Kaushal Jaiswal, MD at Rivulis Irrigation, for this practical discussion on micro-irrigation, the potential of India’s farmers, and a way forward to conserve water in India. Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Transforming Crop Cultivation: Advancing Water Efficiency in Indian Agriculture • Worsening Water Stress in Agriculture: Is There a Glimmer of Hope? Guest: Kaushal Jaiswal Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Time Stamps & Chapters: 00:00 - Precap01:35 - Welcome01:55 - Topic intro03:02 - Guest intro07:08 - How has discussing irrigation and the water problem evolved in India10:00 - Micro-irrigation as a practice in the North vs. the South of India13:01 - The invisible cost of water in agriculture14:45 - Understanding the value of drip irrigation19:44 - Are benefits of micro-irrigation visible to the farmer?23:08 - Why is the adoption of micro-irrigation so low in India today?30:59 - The role of AI in democratising micro-irrgation systems and set-up.33:07 - The maintenance of micro-irrigation systems35:27 - The solution to scaling micro-irrigation38:53 - Reducing the friction for financing & the role of subsidies41:58 - Scaling micro-irrigation for 1 million farmers43:18 - The most investable solutions to scale micro-irrigation in agriculture45:09 - Crops to prioritise for micro-irrigation48:22 - Regions to prioritise for micro-irrigation49:19 - The market for micro-irrigation in East India52:23 - Financing micro-irrigation through climate financing56:05 - Summary and Thanks58:57 - Outro

The recent interim budget focused on how to enable women farmers, looking at how they can be raised up along with other smallholder farmers across India. Today, in certain key agricultural value chains like sugarcane, women make up 50% of the workforce. Yet their work is significantly undervalued as they face a 60% pay gap. This speaks to the deeper systemic challenges women in agriculture face, with their role and contributions being largely obscured. In the first episode of season 3 of Decoding Impact Rathish Balakrishnan spoke with Ireena Vittal, one of India's most respected independent consultants and advisors in agriculture, emerging markets and urban development. Through the episode they discussed: • How certain key agricultural value chains operate • Making all agricultural value chains equitable for all smallholder farmers regardless of gender • How women in agriculture can help themselves within these value chains through self help groups and collectivisation • The nuanced interplay of social norms impacting the economic empowerment of women Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Gender Inclusivity in Commercial Agriculture • Formalising the Female Workforce in Indian Agriculture Guest: Ireena Vittal Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Time Stamps & Chapters: 0:00 - Precap 1:20 - Introduction 2:59 - Guest Introduction 3:33 - Ireena Vittal’s Journey 5:00 - The invisibility of women in Agriculture 8:37 - The power equation for women in Agriculture 13:20 - The power of Collectives for women in Agriculture 16:27 - The systemic issues in agriculture - How do we address these? 17:28 - Understanding different agriculture value chains (part 1) 23:33 - Understanding different agriculture value chains (part 2 31:04 - Challenges in the Indian agriculture industry inhibiting smallholder farmers) 36:09 - The role of businesses in catalysing equitable agriculture 40:57 - Women in agriculture need better pay 45:17 - Women need to participate in the market 51:53 - Solutions to empower women in agriculture 55:01 - Shifting the gender equation at the intermediary layer in agriculture 58:12 - Summary & thanks 58:52 - Outro

Despite gains in its financial inclusion journey, access to financial services is limited to 86% of India's population. Access to credit specifically is a persistent challenge, reflected in the unmet credit need of Rs 25 lakh crores - aggravated by disaggregated data and tedious data sharing processes. Account aggregators are introducing open banking in India. They have the potential to revolutionise the credit market, empowering millions of customers to access and share their financial data across institutions in a secure and efficient manner. To talk more about account aggregators and how these can enable financial digital inclusion, we have with us Shalini Gupta, the Head of Strategy at Sahamati. Sahamati is a member-driven industry alliance formed to facilitate adoption of the account aggregator ecosystem in India. ---- For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our ⁠Website⁠, ⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | Twitter Guest: Shalini Gupta | LinkedIn Producer: Anagha Wankhede Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu ---- Content Sections 00:00 - Decoding Impact Introduction 00:48 - Introduction to the topic and guest 02:32 - What is an Account Aggregator? 06:40 - What financial information is viable and who will use it? 10:21 - Personal Finance Management (PFM) Use Cases 13:14 - How big is the AA system today? 15:37 - A User's Journey in the AA Framework 18:17 - Common AA Apps 18:59 - Value in Data Sharing 24:53 - Resolving Conflicts of Purpose between Financial Entities 28:40 - A New Approach to Gauging Financial Health 34:36 - What is Sahamati's Role? 37:59 - How can Account Aggregators Unlock Value? 50:30 - The Interplay of OCEN and AA 55:57 - PFM for Women 59:11 - Account Aggregators for the Government 1:03:01 - What needs to fall in place? 1:08:02 - Employing Imagination to Utilise AA 1:13:54 - The Role of Philanthropic Capital 1:19:02 - Summary and outro

India is grappling with a severe mental health crisis, with over 197 million Indians diagnosed with mental disorders, exacerbated by a wide treatment gap. The good news is that there is growing recognition of the importance of mental health in the country. However, a thorough understanding of what it entails, what forms mental well-being takes, how it should be approached and conceptualised, is lacking. Mental well-being is intertwined with economic, cultural, social and other factors at various stages of an individual’s life. Effective interventions, therefore, should be contextualised to these aspects. How can public policy, market solutions and community solutions be designed with these in mind? Joining us on World Mental Health Day to share her reflections on making mental health a key part of India’s development agenda, is Dr Pratima Murthy. Dr. Murthy is the Director of NIMHANS, where she has been pivotal in initiating Tele Manas, and establishing the state-of-the-art Centre for Addiction. She has also worked with the National Human Rights Commission to improve care for persons with mental illness. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our ⁠Website⁠, LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Twitter⁠. Host: Rathish Balakrishnan | ⁠Linkedin | Twitter Guest: Dr. Pratima Murthy | Linkedin Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Content Sections: 00:48 Introduction to the topic and guest 02:14 Why is mental well-being critical? 04:17 Recognising interconnections 08:10 Vocabulary and mental models 12:22 Context-specific intervention design 15:38 Designing population-scale interventions 23:11 Perinatal well-being 26:06 Mental health in schools 36:01 Mental health in workplaces 39:42 Prisons as a crucial locus 44:55 Mental health for the elderly 47:54 Improving access to care 51:41 Designing mental well-being models 58:22 Recommendations for philanthropy 1:02:15 Summary and Outro