06.23.22

One thing I’ve really enjoyed about working in the J-PAL office is getting to meet the people working on other projects across the state. One particularly exciting project is the Innovations in Data and Experiments for Action Lab (IDEA) which aims to support governments to use administrative data for evidence-based policy making. The team based in Tamil Nadu has built an incredible repository of administrative data from different Departments in the Tamil Nadu government, and connects government officials in these Departments with researchers who can use the data to evaluate existing programs and make policy recommendations. The government generates vast amounts of data during the normal course of operations, but much of this remains unused. There are tremendous opportunities to learn about the efficacy and impacts of government programs using administrative data, and it’s been so exciting to learn about how the IDEA Lab is unlocking the potential of these datasets.

It was also great to learn about how J-PAL South Asia is responding to the Tamil Nadu State New Policy for Women by trying to develop projects related to gender equality. Increasing female labor force participation is a key focus for the government of Tamil Nadu and both the major political parties even promised monthly cash transfers for women while campaigning during last year’s election. I’m looking forward to learning more about the government’s policy priorities in this area and reforms they are thinking of implementing during my future visits!