The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies (I.D.E.A.S.) at OP Jindal Global University, as part of its MSc Development Practice webinar series, is organizing an online discussion with Professor Reetika Khera, on her recently published book 'रेवड़ी या हक़- सामाजिक सुरक्षा पर एक नजरिया' on 16 April 2025. We are happy to invite you to join us for this important conversation with one of the preeminent scholars in their field on the recent history and situation of social policy in the country.

MSc Development Practice Online Book Discussion: 
रेवड़ी या हक़- सामाजिक सुरक्षा पर एक नजरिया
Revdi Ya Haq: Samajik Suraksha Par Ek Nazaria

Time: 16 April 2025; 11:30 AM to 1:00pm.

Speakers:
Professor Reetika Khera, Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi
in conversation with
Dr. Divya Gupta, Associate Prof and Associate Dean, Jindal Global Law School
Dr. Manika Bora, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, and
Ms. Tahiba Banu, Lecturer, I.D.E.A.S. (Office of Interdisciplinary Studies)

About the Speaker:
Prof. Reetika Khera is a development economist whose work focuses on social policy issues, including health and nutrition, education, social protection, employment, poverty, inequality, impact of digital technologies in welfare, and caste in India. Prof. Khera’s research has shaped several policy debates around India’s public services. For over two decades, she has conducted field studies, social audits and research for action on India’s public services – child-care centers, school meals, public health services, etc. – with a view to understanding the impact of government programs, contrasts across states, and change over time. She has published widely across disciplinary genres, and is a prolific public intellectual. She currently teaches Economics at IIT Delhi.

Book description:
Revdi ya Haq: Samajik Suraksha par ek Nazariya (Freebies or Rights: A Perspective on Social Protection) released in February 2025 in Hindi. It has emerged out of over twenty years of primary surveys, social audits and reflections on social policies across the country by Prof Khera with various collaborators she has worked with. It analyses a range of social policy issues, their implementation, problems, successes, and variations among states. These include, among others, the rights of maternity benefits, anganwadi centers, mid-day meal scheme, old age social security pension, community kitchens, employment guarantee act NREGA, the intensified attack on health and education during Covid, and questions on directions of social policy today. While the book draws primarily from the lives and struggles of rural populations, but also from dialogue with engineering and management students, and urban middle classes on these questions. It can be seen as a dialogue between these various communities and Prof Khera's own perspective on these policies. This is not only an invaluable resource for all researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders engaged with these issues, but a forceful intervention on the level of public opinion.

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