Centre For Development Studies

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.This study provides a comprehensive econometric outcome evaluation of Odisha's fiscal architecture under the 14th and 15th Finance Commissions (FC). Employing a multi-method framework including time-series analysis, tax effort estimation, and Vector Autoregression (VAR) projections it traces the state's transformation from fiscal distress to exemplary prudence. Analysis of data (2000-01 to 2030-31) reveals consistent revenue surpluses, a steeply declining debt-to-GSDP ratio (14.9% in 2022-23), and high capital expenditure (27.4% of outlay). Odisha effectively leveraged FC-XV's performance-linked grants for disaster resilience, health, and local governance, with correlational evidence of positive sectoral outcomes. Despite this, structural vulnerabilities endure, primarily from volatile mining revenues and underperformance in property tax mobilization, as identified by a Representative Tax System analysis. Projections from a VAR model affirm a sustainable fiscal trajectory, with the debt ratio remaining well below statutory limits. The findings indicate that Odisha's success is underpinned by strict adherence to FRBM principles and a strategic, growth-oriented expenditure composition. The conclusion emphasizes that sustaining this resilience requires continued innovation in revenue diversification, formal outcome-based monitoring systems, and institutional mechanisms like a stabilization fund to mitigate revenue volatility. The study offers critical, evidence-based insights for fiscal federalism and sub-national fiscal management in developing economies.

Purpose This scoping review synthesizes interdisciplinary literature to map factors shaping nutrition and food security among Dalit women in rural India, examining how caste-based exclusion, economic deprivation, and patriarchal norms create an intensified burden of malnutrition. Design/methodology/approach Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Academic Search Ultimate, Sociological Abstracts) were searched for literature published January 2000–December 2024. Using the PCC framework, 28 studies focusing on Dalit women in rural India and their nutritional status, dietary practices, or food program access were included. Thematic analysis was conducted manually. Findings Evidence reveals Dalit women’s malnutrition as a direct outcome of structural oppression. Caste-based untouchability restricts access to safe water and diverse foods. Entrenched patriarchy enforces women’s position as last and least fed within households, deepening micronutrient deficiencies. Government schemes (PDS, ICDS) frequently reproduce caste and gender discrimination, failing to dismantle structural barriers. Nutrition transition promotes processed foods as aspirational, while economic constraints create a paradox: persistent undernutrition alongside emerging health risks, where healthy traditional foods are stigmatized yet processed alternatives remain unattainable. Originality/value This review provides a novel synthesis through a consolidated framework of Dalit feminist theory, political economy of caste and symbolic anthropology of food. It explicitly models the cyclical nature of nutritional marginalization and argues that nutrition policy’s failure to adopt intersectionality perpetuates nutritional injustices.

Purpose In the last decade, there has been a growing consensus that expanding gender diversity in the workplace can improve productivity and work quality. However, the well-being of female workers continues to be a challenge for companies. This study aims to evaluate the influence of some work practices (remote work, participation, flex-time, and work autonomy) on work engagement and work-life balance of European workers in the logistics sector, distinguishing male from female workers. The analysis is grounded in the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and social exchange theory (SET). Design/methodology/approach To this end, we used a quantitative methodology, carrying out a multi-group analysis and applying the partial least square method to a sample of 4,806 European workers in the logistics sector. Findings The results reveal significant gender differences in the intensity of influence of work practices on work engagement and work-life balance. Participation and flex-time practices positively influence the work engagement of female workers, and remote work practices their work-life balance, but with less intensity when compared to male workers. The relationship between work engagement and work-life balance is negative, being more intense in the case of female workers. Finally, when the association between workplace practices and work-life balance is mediated by work engagement, there is a positive influence of remote work and participation in work practices in the case of female workers. Originality/value This study contributes to deepening knowledge about gender differences in the workplace by integrating the JD-R model and SET to reveal gendered pathways between workplace practices, work engagement, and work-life balance in the logistics sector. It demonstrates that workplace practices appropriate to workers' gender should be promoted to enhance work engagement and work-life balance, which are valued by workers and could lead to greater worker proficiency.

India's fisheries sector has transformed into a major commercial activity, contributing significantly to livelihoods and the economy, with Odisha emerging as a leading state in fish production. Chilika Lake, a vital aquatic ecosystem, supports thousands of fisherfolk and contributes substantially to Odisha's fish economy. This study examines the fish economy of Odisha with special reference to Chilika Lake, focusing on production trends, species composition, livelihood dependence, and export relevance. Using a combination of primary field survey data and secondary time-series data, the analysis covers inland and marine fisheries in Odisha as well as fish, shrimp, and crab production in Chilika Lake. Descriptive statistics and trend analysis are complemented by econometric techniques, including the Augmented Dickey–Fuller unit root test and ARIMA modelling, to evaluate production dynamics and generate short-term forecasts. The results indicate sustained and robust growth in inland fisheries in Odisha, while fisheries production in Chilika Lake exhibits temporal fluctuations with persistent economic significance, particularly from fish and shrimp resources. The econometric evidence confirms non-stationarity at levels and stationarity after first differencing, validating the use of ARIMA-based forecasting. The findings highlight the critical role of sustainable fisheries management, effective regulation of aquaculture practices, and targeted policy interventions to enhance livelihood security, strengthen export performance, and ensure long-term ecological sustainability of the Chilika Lake wetland ecosystem.

Background: There is a growing need for end-of-life care and it is imperative that health professionals have the capacity to provide this care. Aim: To investigate the factors that can influence the levels of spirituality, emotional intelligence, palliative care knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes towards end-of-life care and the perception of the ability of to provide end-of-life care for doctors and nurses. Method: Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire during May and July of 2022 of doctors and nurses in a public hospital in Portugal ( n =380). Results: Statistically significant associations were found between sociodemographic and professional variables. Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, the palliative care knowledge, spirituality and the ability to provide end-of-life care increase with experience and training in palliative care. Self-efficacy and emotional intelligence also increase with experience in healthcare. Most professionals do not have training or experience in palliative care, but palliative care training should be mandatory during professional internships and workplace training.

ABSTRACT In recent decades, parental involvement has gained attention to address the learning crisis faced by children in the Global South. This paper examines whether parental involvement improves learning outcomes of children in India, with a focus on those enrolled in government schools. Using data from the India Human Development Survey (2011–12) and employing ordinary least squares and instrumental variable regression, we find that parental involvement is positively associated with learning outcomes. Children perform better when parents attend parent-teacher association meetings, discuss schoolwork with teachers, and supervise homework. We highlight two potential mechanisms underlying these findings: reduced school absenteeism and increased time spent on homework. Notably, learning outcomes of children in government schools improve more with parental involvement. However, involvement is lower among government school children and parents with lower socio-economic status, which may contribute to achievement gaps. These findings call for action from policymakers to address this disparity.

This study attempts to measure the caste-based dietary gap and relative contribution of different socioeconomic factors in Odisha, India, through the lens of the Capability Approach. We used National Sample Survey 68th (2011–12) and 79th (2022–23) rounds data that includes 13,113 sample. Dietary diversity was assessed using a 13-food group score, categorized into low, medium, and high based on established FAO/FANTA thresholds. The caste gap in dietary disparities is assessed using Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition for non-linear models. The decomposition analysis reveals the magnitude of caste-based dietary gap and the contribution of observed and unobserved factors to such gap. A gradual improvement in dietary diversity from low to medium category has been observed among SC/ST between 2011 and 12 and 2022-23 in Odisha. The marginal effects show socioeconomic status, household composition, cooking fuel &location are the increases the probability of being in the medium and higher dietary diversity. About 76% and 57% of caste-based inequalities in high and medium dietary diversity (with reference to low dietary diversity) explained by observable differences in endowments. While education and wealth (endowment component) are the key drivers of dietary diversity, the large unexplained component for shift from low to medium dietary status underscores the structural barriers such as social exclusion, cultural norms and differential market access that reinforces caste inequalities. Addressing the caste-based dietary gap therefore requires equity-focused, multidimensional nutrition strategies that combine economic development with targeted interventions.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-32743-y.

As the field of cultural evolution marks its fiftieth anniversary, it has an opportunity not only to evolve in theory and scope, but also in ethics of practice. This theme issue contributes to that shift by showcasing projects supported by the Cultural Evolution Society's Transformation Fund (CES-TF), which centred equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). This opinion piece draws on our CES-TF projects, conducted across diverse cultural and geographical settings, to reflect on the challenges and possibilities of making cultural evolution-and human research more broadly-more just. We focus on three relational dimensions in which cultural evolution research can become more inclusive and equitable: fostering equitable cross-cultural research collaborations; building mutually beneficial researcher community collaborations; and cultivating supportive funding and institutional relationships. Our collective reflections, written by grant recipients and the CES-TF lead, emphasize that, while there is no universal model for ethical research, attending to positionality, power dynamics and diverse knowledge systems can foster responsible and impactful research. Striving to make the field more globally representative will enhance our capacity to critically reflect and improve, but real progress requires time, resources and structural reform, supported by institutions, funders and journals committed to embedding EDI at the core of research. This article is part of the theme issue 'Transforming cultural evolution research and its application to global futures'.

This paper examines debates on open access and open science through a comparative historical lens, bringing into dialogue MIT’s Open Scholarship framework, UNESCO’s Open Science agenda aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the thought and practice of Chattampi Swamikal (1853–1924), a central figure of the Kerala Renaissance. While early discussions of open scholarship focused on technical, institutional, and economic challenges within digital research systems, recent discourse foregrounds inclusivity, linguistic diversity, community engagement, and knowledge as a global public good. The paper argues that these ethical commitments have a clear historical antecedent in Swamikal’s late nineteenth-century conception of knowledge as a social responsibility. Drawing on his writings and pedagogical initiatives—especially his advocacy of vernacular education, critique of caste-based monopolies over learning, and commitment to public dissemination—the study interprets contemporary open access and open science as institutional continuations of an earlier emancipatory epistemology. On this basis, the paper proposes policy directions for an inclusive knowledge commons integrating infrastructure, governance, incentives, linguistic accessibility, and ethical engagement. It concludes that sustainable and equitable open access requires not only technological and policy reforms, but an ethical reorientation toward knowledge as a shared civilizational trust. By situating open knowledge within a longer ethical genealogy, the paper reframes it as a historically grounded project rather than a purely digital or institutional innovation.

The safe deployment of medical image classifiers is critically dependent on their robustness to adversarial attacks; however, standard defenses often degrade the diagnostic accuracy of clean data. This study introduces Curriculum-based TRADES (C-TRADES), a lightweight and effective training framework that resolves this trade-off. C-TRADES synergistically combines the TRADES loss objective with a curriculum learning strategy, where adversarial perturbations gradually intensify during the training. This approach stabilizes the optimization and yields highly robust models with minimal impact on the clean-data performance. We evaluated C-TRADES on a dermatoscopic skin lesion classification task using DenseNet121 and modern ConvNeXt-Tiny architectures. The results demonstrated a significant improvement in adversarial robustness. Notably, C-TRADES-trained ConvNeXt achieved an exceptional accuracy of 76.4% under AutoAttack, decisively outperforming the standard adversarial training. Crucially, this was achieved while maintaining a high clean data accuracy of 81.8%, showing a superior balance between robustness and diagnostic utility. These findings signify that C-TRADES is a practical and generalizable defense system, establishing a new benchmark for developing trustworthy clinical AI systems that are resilient to adversarial threats.