Andhra Pradesh

This paper highlights some sustainability concerns related to Andhra Pradesh’s marine fisheries by using primary data. The analysis shows that several serious problems lie beneath the estimates of the quantity and value of annual marine catch from the state. The issue of targeted, incidental and by-catch in this multispecies fishery is interlinked in complex ways. A host of internal and external factors of the marine system drive the harvest. Increasing demand for shrimp, other high-value fishes, subadults, and juveniles of various species for consumption from different consumer segments, a thriving poultry or aquaculture feed industry and the perceived opportunity cost of avoiding or minimising the non-targeted catch by the fishers act as critical drivers threatening the sustainability of fisheries. If strict measures are not adopted, the AP fishery might collapse sooner than later.

Do lockdowns and mobility restrictions contain the spread of COVID-19? Data was collected on district-level non-pharmaceutical interventions, using government notifications and news reports, in six major Indian states to assess the impact of NPIs on COVID-19 transmission and fatality in 2020. Findings suggest that NPIs slowed COVID-19 death rates in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Interventions that were most associated with slowing fatalities were temple closures, retail closures, and curfews. Even with incomplete compliance, limiting mass gatherings in face of incipient viral waves may save lives.

Special economic zones in India continue to be seen as vehicles for social and economic development. The article describes how resident communities of an SEZ in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, experienced a series of livelihood transformations that were mediated strongly by capabilities and aspirations. Divergent social and economic outcomes were created for respondents living in and navigating through a transition–transformation–aspiration continuum. The SEZ creation legitimised precarity by engendering casual, insecure, and unprotected labour relationships. The article suggests that SEZ performance be evaluated by metrics that incorporate an explicit focus on the enhancement of capabilities.

The implications of expanding government-sponsored health insurance schemes in India are analysed from a fiscal perspective. The experiences of two of the earliest and largest GSHI schemes of the country implemented in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are examined. The results suggest that the expansion of the GSHI schemes may skew expenditure away from primary and secondary care towards tertiary care if the fiscal space is limited. A competitive public health system may help in containing costs and the corresponding fiscal burden. The effectiveness of public spending through such schemes is ambiguous.