First of a three-part podcast on India’s quest for universal basic income (UBI). It covers the pilots that have been run so far and, importantly, asks what they tell about the potential of such schemes in India and perhaps in other developing countries.

The expert is Sarath Davala, chair of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), and co-founder for India Network for Basic Income. He served as the research director for the Madhya Pradesh basic income pilot.
This part is concerned with concrete UBI pilots coming from India. It goes deep into the Madhya Pradesh experiment, covering:
• Design. What were the key features and how were the evaluations run?
• Results. What outcomes were assessed and why do some (indebtedness, diversification of livelihoods, gender) deserve a closer look?
• Policy space. How was the pilot designed to interact with the existing social protection system and why was this the way to go?

The Policy Nerd series introduces listeners to leading thinkers as they debate concrete policy options for such a recovery and take stock of the data that could (and should) inform these policy shifts.