Dr B R Ambedkar has written extensively about economics and  development. Along with proposing landmark legislations, he was also  attentive to the impact of policies on those from marginalised castes  and on women. Our guests will examine the policy landscape in and focus on two landmark programmes— the National Food Security Act’s  provisions for maternity entitlements and the National Rural Employment  Guarantee Act—and whether they actualise Ambedkar’s vision of a  democratic socialist India. Nitin Dhaktode and  Aditi Priya join us on Research Radio. Nitin is a senior doctoral  research scholar at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of  Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has also worked with social audit units for  over three and a half years in Hyderabad and across India. Aditi Priya  is a research associate at LEAD at Krea University, Sricity. She started  the group Bahujan Economists.  Her research interests include maternity entitlements, maternal and  child health and gender-based violence and the role of the police. We will discuss Aditi’s article “Birth Pangs: Universal Maternity Entitlements in India” and Nitin’s article “Caste in MGNREGA Works and Social Audits.” Audio courtesy: Summertime by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 [CC BY 3.0]