Rukmini S

Knowledge from data for everyone. Founder, @dataforin. Book: "Whole Numbers & Half Truths" (Westland '21).

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

Just precisely what we're trying to do - make data accessible! Thanks Deepa.

[Deepa Vasudevan @dvasusg]

Why India'sfertility problem may be worse than we thought.. my piece in Mint today. Grateful to Prof Jesús Fernández-Villaverde @JesusFerna7026 for his wonderful explanation of TFR. Thank you @dataforin for making data easily accessible

[VizChitra @VizChitra]

⏳ Just 1 month until #VizChitra2026!

What happens when the people who find data, shape data, and show data are finally in the same room? Come find out.

Join us for talks, workshops, dialogues, and an exhibition.

📅 3–4 July, 2026
📍 Bangalore
🎟️ https://t.co/iwyrtsbf9J

[Data For India @dataforin]

India's female labour force participation rate (LFPR) - the share of women who are either working or seeking work - is growing, but low by global standards.

Historically, a majority of adult Indian women reported that they were attending to household duties and were not available for paid work. However, recent trends show an increase in female LFPR, particularly among rural Indian women. In 2018, about one in four women in rural India reported being in the labour force; by 2024, this number had climbed to nearly half of all rural women.

Workers are classified by the time spent on work in a particular area as "principal workers" (persons who worked in one activity for a relatively long part of the last 365 days), "subsidiary workers" (persons who worked for more than 30 days but less than six months on a particular activity), and "both principal and subsidiary workers" (those who worked for most of the year on one activity, and for a small part of the year on another activity).

Most Indian workers are only principal workers, meaning that they work on one activity for most of the year, and this category has steadily grown for both men and women. However, a large part of the recent rise in workers among women, particularly in rural areas, was in subsidiary, or part-time, work.

#Work #Women #Employment #LFPR #India #DataForIndia

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

The informal sector is the very heart of India's workforce, but we too often talk about it without really understanding who and what we're talking about. We hope our work is a step towards changing that. All of our work is here https://t.co/jdtkysDzjV

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

New on @dataforin: @akwaghmare's deep-dive into the informal sector. A thread:
- Informality is a widely discussed topic in India's economy, but it's hard to track down exactly how it's defined and measured. That's what this piece does https://t.co/R0utx1LXF9

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

Now that we know how it's defined and how big it is, we look at what the informal sector really looks like - who works in it, what sectors are more formal, what wages are like, etc. https://t.co/tt5p7cuW1r

[Data For India @dataforin]

Access to safe, usable toilet facilities is a critical component of public health and safety.

India has long struggled with very low levels of sanitation, significantly worse than many comparable countries. In 2000, only 14% of India’s population had access to at least a basic sanitation facility, placing it behind much poorer countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Somalia. When people do not have access to a safe and usable toilet, they are forced to defecate in the open.

However, over the next two decades, India made consistent progress in improving access to sanitation. By 2022, India had surpassed countries that were at a similar level in 2000, or were ahead at the time.

Basic sanitation facilities are defined as improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households. These include flush/pour-flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines; ventilated improved pit latrines, composting toilets or pit latrines with slabs. This categorisation is based on WHO and UNICEF's definition.

What kind of toilet facilities do Indian households have access to? Read @nileena_suresh's piece to find out: https://t.co/a7IDOJ3Mqn

#Toilets #Sanitation #WASH #India #DataForIndia

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

@nandlalsumit The SRS is used by not just India, but also the UN and many others to produce India estimates. Improving it is in everyone's interest. Additionally, we recommend releasing anonymised unit level data. The piece is here https://t.co/hFT3MIFta9 (end of thread)

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

New on @dataforin: our resident demographer @nandlalsumit looks at how India currently estimates births and deaths, and what could be improved. A short thread: https://t.co/hFT3MIFta9

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

In many states, @nandlalsumit now finds that the CRS is more likely to get things right. It's possible that the SRS's sampling needs improvement (among other things.) For those states, we recommend using the CRS.

[Data For India @dataforin]

Higher education is seen as a key to getting young Indians into skilled, high-paying jobs and accelerating economic growth.

Just under 40 million young people (aged 18-23) were enrolled in higher education programmes in India as of 2022. This included both undergraduate (or equivalent) and postgraduate (or equivalent) levels of study.

However, at 32%, enrolment in tertiary or higher education in India is still below the world average.

In the early 1990s, India’s higher education enrolment rates were similar to China’s, for instance. But in the two decades since, China has made big strides: more than seven in ten young Chinese adults are now in higher education, compared to three in ten young Indian adults.

How does higher education enrolment look across states, and what disciplines do students choose to study in India? Read @akwaghmare’s piece to find out: https://t.co/hGYV4UowwP

#College #Undergraduate #Education #HigherEducation #India #DataForIndia

[Data For India @dataforin]

🧵 India is a relatively young country. Half of India's population is under the age of 30, making it a far younger country than its European, North American and East Asian counterparts.

#Population #Census #Demographics #India #DataForIndia

[Data For India @dataforin]

The most widely used indicator to understand how risky pregnancy and childbirth are in a region is the maternal mortality ratio (MMR). MMR is the number of maternal deaths, during pregnancy or within 42 days after, for every 100,000 live births.

Maternal mortality in India stood at 398 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 1998, and by 2023, this number had decreased to 88 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

Improving access to healthcare has been a key factor in this decline. A study found that nearly half of maternal deaths occurred at home, with 14% happening in transit between home and a health facility.

The number of institutional births in India has risen significantly over the last twenty years, lowering the risk of maternal mortality. In 1993, only a quarter of deliveries took place in public or private hospitals; by 2021, this had increased to 89%.

Even with this progress, over a quarter of mothers in India’s poorest rural households continue to give birth at home. Five of 36 states - Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Nagaland - still report over one in five deliveries at home.

Alongside institutional births, access to adequate healthcare during pregnancy is crucial for reducing risks before delivery. How does this access look across India? Read @nileena_suresh’s piece to find out: https://t.co/0kCmUia79b

#Hospital #Birth #Death #Health #India #DataForIndia

[Dinesh Pai @dineshpaii]

One of the next big investment stories in India may not be in technology or AI. It may be in restoring what was already here.

Came to this realisation as I started looking up heat as an investment theme. Ended up realising the real investment is in nature-based solutions.

So, India's average temperature has risen 0.9°C between 1901 and 2024.

What it actually means,
- Rainfed rice yields are projected to fall 20% by 2050 and 47% by 2080. Wheat yields are projected to go down 19% and 40% in the same window.
- Himalayan glaciers may lose 30–50% of their volume by 2100.
- A projected 50 cm sea-level rise puts 35–50 million coastal Indians at risk.
- Heat-related deaths are climbing across Indian cities.

The answer is not really fancy tech,

- We quickly need to figure out heat and drought-tolerant crop varieties, conservation agriculture, and improved water-use habits.
- Mangrove restoration is critical. Mangroves draw down 60% more carbon than planting bare tidal flats.
- Green roofs cool building surfaces by up to 5°C.
- Watershed restoration recharges groundwater and buffers droughts.
- Urban tree cover and choosing agroforestry over monoculture plantations.

None of this is tech. It's the cheapest, most proven set of tools we have.

Chart from @dataforin @Rukmini

[Data For India @dataforin]

Vocational training refers to the set of practical skills people need to do specific kinds of work. These are the skills that can make someone more employable.

Only one in three Indians receive any form of vocational training for their jobs.

About 4% of working-age Indians, or 36 million people aged 15-59, report having received formal vocational training. Formal vocational training refers to structured, usually paid courses with a defined curriculum that lead to certification.

Informal training, which includes hereditary skills passed down within families, self-learning, learning on the job, and short-term training that is not formally recognised, is much more widespread. About 30% of people aged 15-59 report having received informal training.

Vocational training patterns are different among men and women. Overall, women are about as likely as men to receive formal training, but are less likely to receive informal training, which often happens in workplaces or through apprenticeships. Formal training is slightly more common in cities than in rural areas, where informal skilling is higher.

What are the different types of vocational skills that Indians are acquiring? Read @nileena_suresh’s analysis to learn more: https://t.co/7iyngVI0l6

#Training #Jobs #Work #India #DataForIndia

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

Annual migrant ritual of missing your hometown mangoes, buying them in your adopted city and being sorely disappointed, asking yourself if you just need to assimilate to the local mangoes, giving up and looking up courier prices and then finally booking tickets home...

[Data For India @dataforin]

Literacy - the ability to read and write a sentence in any language with proper comprehension - is the most fundamental measure of educational outcomes.

India has made remarkable progress in improving literacy rates, rising from fewer than two in ten literate in the early 1950s, to eight in ten as of 2023. India’s literacy data comes from the Census (until 2011) and subsequent nationally representative sample surveys by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Literacy in India lags behind the world average, but the data shows that that is largely a historical legacy. Youth literacy (ages 15-24) is rising fast and is now higher than the world average.

Half of India's illiterate population is above 50 years of age. Meanwhile, illiteracy has been virtually eliminated among children and teenagers suggesting that India is on the path to near-universal literacy.

Despite this progress in literacy, gaps remain. Not all groups are at equal levels of literacy - urban literacy is higher than rural, and literacy is higher for men than women in India. Illiteracy is also higher among people who belong to a marginalised group. But these gaps have narrowed over time as well.

What are the literacy rates across various states in India? Read @akwaghmare's piece to find out: https://t.co/jlzOZEG1m3

#Literacy #Education #LivingConditions #India #DataForIndia

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

Finally: Ameya and Head of Data Ops Apoorv found that a comprehsive dataset does not currently exist, and had to put it together from multiple official sources (all mentioned). Behind our charts, you will now find this dataset, and it's free to use. https://t.co/4VQ4A3S6Hj

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

New on @dataforin: our legal researcher and writer Ameya Bokil looks at judicial pendency in India - how many cases are pending, at what levels, since when, at what stage, in which state - and why https://t.co/arS9B9NjVO

[Rukmini S @Rukmini]

I also found the relative breakdown of pendency by case-age useful - I had not, for instance, realised that HCs are the ones most likely to have the oldest cases. Ameya also finds wide inter-state variation, and change over time, with both district courts and HCs.