Zakir Husain
@presiuniv.ac.in
Professor, Economics
Presidency University
My schooling took place in La Martiniere for Boys and St. Lawrence High School. After completing my graduation from Presidency College in 1989 with Honours in Economics, I enrolled in Calcutta University in the M.Sc. programme in Economics, where I secured Second position in the Merit list. Subsequently, I completed my Ph.D. from Calcutta University in 2003 in Environmental Economics.
I have been actively engaged in UG teaching (since 1994) and in PG teaching (since 1998). In the last ten years, I have offered courses in Econometrics (Theory and Laboratory), Microeconomics, Advanced Economic Theory, General Equilibrium, Health Economics & Policy, Macroeconomics and Environmental Economics.
I was also actively associated with the public policy domain, serving in the Prime Minister’s High Level Committee chaired by Justice Rajinder Sachar, and as a Member of the State Planning Board, West Bengal (2007-2011). In 2012, I prepared a background paper on Social Justice as part of NCAER’s ex
EDUCATION
1989: B.Sc. (Economics Major) Presidency College
1991: M.Sc. (Economics) Calcutta University
2003: Ph.D. Calcutta University (Attitudes and Institutions: Sustaining the commons)
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Economics and Econometrics, Health (social science), Gender Studies, Social Sciences
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Pronay Ghosh, Vasundhara Chatterjee, Avike Paul, Debarati Ghosh, and Zakir Husain
Elsevier BV
YuJung Julia Lee, Zakir Husain, and Mousumi Dutta
Wiley
AbstractReliance on biomass fuel remains high in many developing countries, like India. Shifting to clean fuel has widely recognized benefits for women in saving time, improving health, and creating a better environment. Other benefits to women in the form of increasing empowerment are a relatively under‐researched area. Using data from the nationally representative National Family Health Survey (2019–21) in India, this study uses endogenous treatment effect models to explore the causal effect of shifting to clean fuel on awareness, work, mobility, decision‐making and financial autonomy. Analysis reveals significant gains in all dimensions, particularly in women's mobility and decision‐making. The gains are relatively higher among less educated women, those from poor households, and those belonging to socially advantaged groups. Focusing on gains to empowerment will motivate women to adopt clean fuel and enable a holistic transformation of society through the simultaneous attainment of several Sustainable Development Goals.
Zakir Husain and Mousumi Dutta
Wiley
AbstractSelf‐help groups (SHGs) are used as instruments for changes in health‐related behaviour. We evaluated the impact of the Health and Nutrition Strategy of JEEViKA on the dietary practices of infants in rural areas of Bihar. Propensity score matching revealed that the probability of exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months and starting complementary feeding after 6 months was higher by 5% and 3%, respectively, if the respondent was an SHG member. The average treatment effects on treated using attendance in meetings as the treatment variable found that the programme had increased breastfeeding only, with there being peer effects also. The study recommends encouraging attendance in SHG meetings.
Divya Pillai, Jyoti Narayan, Aleksandra Gentry-Maharaj, Suryanarayana Deo, Dehannathparambil Kottarathil Vijaykumar, Poulome Mukherjee, Nitya Wadhwa, Aparajita Bhasin, Ashutosh Mishra, Anupama Rajanbabu,et al.
MDPI AG
Background: Low awareness of BC and its associated risk factors causes delays in diagnosis and impacts survival. It is critical to communicate BC risk to patients in a format that they are easily able to understand. Our study aim was to develop easy-to-follow transmedia prototypes to communicate BC risk and evaluate user preferences, alongside exploring awareness of BC and its risk factors. Methods: Prototypes of transmedia tools for risk communication were developed with multidisciplinary input. A qualitative in-depth online interview study was undertaken using a pre-defined topic guide of BC patients (7), their relatives (6), the general public (6), and health professionals (6). Interviews were analyzed using a thematic approach. Findings: Most participants preferred pictographic representations (frequency format) of lifetime risk and risk factors and storytelling using short animations and comic strips (infographics) for communicating genetic risk and testing: “In a short time, they explained it very well, and I liked it”. Suggestions included minimizing technical terminology, decreasing the delivery speed, “two-way dialogue”, and using local “language for different locations”. There was low awareness of BC, with some understanding of age and hereditary risk factors but limited knowledge of reproductive factors. Interpretation: Our findings support use of multiple context-specific multimedia tools in communicating cancer risk in an easy-to-understand way. The preference for storytelling using animations and infographics is a novel finding and should be more widely explored.
Zakir Husain and Pallabi Das
Elsevier BV
Richa Kothari, Zakir Husain, and Mousumi Dutta
SAGE Publications
Most studies on intimate partner violence (IPV) and its drivers have focused on individual-and household-level characteristics of the victim. Recent studies have acknowledged that it is a community-level phenomenon, using spatial analytical methods to analyze community-level determinants of IPV and its geographic dimensions. Such studies provide mixed evidence on the impact of different factors and need to be supplemented by similar studies—particularly in South Asian countries where IPV is common. The present study examines district-level variations in the incidence of various forms of IPV and identifies its determinants in India, a fast-growing South Asian country with poor gender indicators. The study combines data from the National Family Health Survey, District Level Household Survey, and the decadal Census. It applies spatial analytical methods such as the Global Moran’s I, Getis-ord statistic, and Multivariate Local Geary to determine the nature of the spatial distribution of different categories of IPV. Spatial regression models are used to identify the community-level predictors of each category of IPV. The study finds non-random overlapping spatial clusters in the eastern part of India. The study also finds that neighborhoods characterized by low empowerment levels, and with a high child sex ratio, road connectivity, and proportion of socially marginalized groups are more likely to exhibit high levels of all types of IPV—although the impact of these determinants varies across districts. Furthermore, spill-overs in the incidence of IPV between neighboring districts are also observed. The study concludes by recommending the use of localized policies, rather than broad national or state policies, in reducing IPV.
Zakir Husain, Soumitra Shankar Datta, Saswata Ghosh, and Mousumi Dutta
Informa UK Limited
Abstract Background Initial studies have reported an increase in the incidence of mental health problems during the early months of COVID-19. Longitudinal studies of changes in mental health undertaken in Low and Middle Income countries during the pandemic remains an under-researched area. Aims The current study examines changes in mental health among adult residents of metropolitan cities of India, a middle-income country reporting the second-highest COVID cases and third-highest fatalities, during the pandemic. Method Data was collected, based on a telephonic survey using the internationally accepted abridged Depression Anxiety Stress schedule (DASS-21), in August and September 2020 and July-August 2021. The sample size is 994. The data was analysed using an ordered logit model. Results At the onset of the pandemic, high levels of anxiety, stress and depression prevailed; their levels reduced after one year. Respondents who have experienced a decline in economic fortunes, have family members with pre-existing co-morbidity or had COVID in the family are significantly less likely to report improvement in mental health; less-educated respondents are also vulnerable. Conclusions Specific sub-groups, identified as at risk, need monitoring and continued provisioning of tailor-made mental health services addressing their specific needs. Relief measures targeting economically affected households are also required.
Zakir Husain, Saswata Ghosh, and Mousumi Dutta
Informa UK Limited
ABSTRACT This study examines the coverage and effect of cash transfers and food subsidies in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on a primary survey of rural women in the state of Bihar – an underdeveloped state with poor public delivery systems – undertaken in January–March and September–November 2020. Although the coverage of cash transfers was wider than that of food subsidies, respondents receiving cereals and pulses under the Public Distribution System reported a lower probability of suffering from food insecurity vis-à-vis cash subsidies. The study suggests that food subsidies may be more effective when supply chains break down.
Zakir Husain, Saswata Ghosh, and Mousumi Dutta
Elsevier BV
Anindita Namhata, Anugraha Kalikote, Sudipta Paul, and Zakir Husain
SAGE Publications
The onset of COVID-19 in 2020 led to the closure of educational institutions and a shift to online teaching in India. It provides a natural experiment setting in which to examine the formation of endogenous ties among students and analyses the path-dependent nature of such a process. Information on sources of academic assistance was collected from members of two groups of students enrolled in the postgraduate course of the Economics Department of an Indian University using Google forms. The information was analysed using standard measures employed in social network analysis, such as sociograms, centrality measures, and homophily index. We show that, contrary to expectations, inheriting ties can constrain actors from forming ties that optimize outcomes. JEL Codes: D85, I20
Trishna Chaudhuri, Devi Nandakumar, Soumitra Shankar Datta, Zakir Husain, Reghu K Sukumaran, Inder Sekhar Yadav, Sekhar Krishnan, and Samiran Panda
Ecancer Global Foundation
Background Childhood cancer often involves a long-term engagement of children and their parents with health services. During this journey, communications between professionals, parents and young people can be stressful for all the stakeholders. This study explores the communication preferences in paediatric oncology. Objectives The objective of the present exploratory qualitative study was to understand the views of professionals regarding information exchange during cancer treatment of children and complement these findings with clinic-based ethnographic observation of real-life consultations. Methods Using qualitative methods, in-depth interviews were conducted with paediatric oncology professionals. The interviews had been audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Alongside in-depth interviews, real-life interactions between parents, professionals and children were observed. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis framework as suggested by Braun and Clark. Results Paediatric oncology professionals (n = 14) were interviewed from diverse professional backgrounds that included consultant paediatric oncologists, junior specialist trainees in paediatric oncology, paediatric oncology nurses, social workers, survivor counsellor and psychologists looking after children with cancer. Additionally, clinic-based ethnographic observations (n = 10) of interactions between professionals, parents and young people were also conducted. The following themes emerged from the interviews: a) Information needs of children were very different from adolescents. Children were more worried about ‘here and now’; b) adolescents were, on the other hand, mostly worried about the ‘impact of cancer on their broader life, friendships and academics’; c) parents were curious about the outcome, costs and effectiveness of treatment, and different patterns emerged for mothers and fathers; d) information needs were dynamic and different at the start of the treatment, during treatment, at remission or end of life; e) the journey of the clinicians themselves impacted information-sharing practices; and f) direct observation of consultations highlighted the importance of priming parents before delivery of information, having multiple family members during the conversation and managing intense emotions expressed during the session. Conclusion Paediatric oncology professionals need to be sensitive about the dynamic nature of information needs while interacting with children and parents of children with cancer. The above findings may help tailor the discussions that professionals ought to have with families with a child with cancer. The results may contribute to the understanding as well as to developing training courses on communications in paediatric oncology for low- and middle-income countries.
Zakir Husain and Richa Kothari
Routledge India
This study analyses the impact of the national level lockdown in India on the migrant workers, and how it changed the spatial distribution of Covid-19 cases. Publicly available district-level data is analysed using spatial statistical methods (choropleth maps, Local Indicators of Spatial Analysis, the Getis-Ord gi* statistic, and multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression models). On 24th March, 2020, the Prime Minister announced a national lockdown to combat the spread of Covid-19 in India. This resulted in lakhs of migrant workers being stranded in their places of work - exposed to Covid-19, without any work or income. Their long march back to their homes was initially ignored;it was only from May that the Indian Railways started to transport these workers back to their states of origin. This study argues that in the absence of adequate health screening at both source and destination, over-crowded trains, insanitary conditions, and failure to run trains on schedule - the Shramik trains resulted in Covid-19 spreading from hotspots like Maharashtra and Gujarat to create new epicentres in eastern states like West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam from where the migrant workers had originated. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Rajib Bhattacharyya, Ananya Ghosh Dastidar and Soumyen Sikdar;individual chapters, the contributors.
Ranjit Manchanda, Li Sun, Shreeya Patel, Olivia Evans, Janneke Wilschut, Ana Carolina De Freitas Lopes, Faiza Gaba, Adam Brentnall, Stephen Duffy, Bin Cui,et al.
MDPI AG
Clinical criteria/Family history-based BRCA testing misses a large proportion of BRCA carriers who can benefit from screening/prevention. We estimate the cost-effectiveness of population-based BRCA testing in general population women across different countries/health systems. A Markov model comparing the lifetime costs and effects of BRCA1/BRCA2 testing all general population women ≥30 years compared with clinical criteria/FH-based testing. Separate analyses are undertaken for the UK/USA/Netherlands (high-income countries/HIC), China/Brazil (upper–middle income countries/UMIC) and India (low–middle income countries/LMIC) using both health system/payer and societal perspectives. BRCA carriers undergo appropriate screening/prevention interventions to reduce breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) risk. Outcomes include OC, BC, and additional heart disease deaths and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER)/quality-adjusted life year (QALY). Probabilistic/one-way sensitivity analyses evaluate model uncertainty. For the base case, from a societal perspective, we found that population-based BRCA testing is cost-saving in HIC (UK-ICER = $−5639/QALY; USA-ICER = $−4018/QALY; Netherlands-ICER = $−11,433/QALY), and it appears cost-effective in UMIC (China-ICER = $18,066/QALY; Brazil-ICER = $13,579/QALY), but it is not cost-effective in LMIC (India-ICER = $23,031/QALY). From a payer perspective, population-based BRCA testing is highly cost-effective in HIC (UK-ICER = $21,191/QALY, USA-ICER = $16,552/QALY, Netherlands-ICER = $25,215/QALY), and it is cost-effective in UMIC (China-ICER = $23,485/QALY, Brazil−ICER = $20,995/QALY), but it is not cost-effective in LMIC (India-ICER = $32,217/QALY). BRCA testing costs below $172/test (ICER = $19,685/QALY), which makes it cost-effective (from a societal perspective) for LMIC/India. Population-based BRCA testing can prevent an additional 2319 to 2666 BC and 327 to 449 OC cases per million women than the current clinical strategy. Findings suggest that population-based BRCA testing for countries evaluated is extremely cost-effective across HIC/UMIC health systems, is cost-saving for HIC health systems from a societal perspective, and can prevent tens of thousands more BC/OC cases.
Pallabi Das, Zakir Husain, and Saswata Ghosh
Informa UK Limited
ABSTRACT This study compares fertility-related behaviour in the adjacent regions of West Bengal (a state in eastern India) and Bangladesh. The starting premise of the paper is that common history and language has led to diffusion of fertility practices from West Bengal to Bangladesh. This is hypothesised to create a homogenous pattern of fertility behaviour in the bordering districts of both political regions. The study uses Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and District level Household Survey data for 1992, 2002, and 2012. Despite some reservations – as DHS is directed to produce state-level estimates, while DLHS is geared to yield district-level estimates – the similarity in sampling strategies and coverage of all districts (in West Bengal) and divisions (in Bangladesh) implies that the two data sets may be pooled, particularly in the absence of any alternatives. We tested whether fertility behaviour in (i) bordering districts differs from non-border districts in both countries, and (ii) bordering districts of both countries are similar using multi-level linear and logistic models. Outcome variables are contraceptive prevalence rate, and number of ever born children. The results reveal similarities in fertility behaviour between border divisions of Bangladesh and West Bengal, indicating possible cross-border diffusion of fertility practices.
Pallabi Das and Zakir Husain
Springer Singapore
Zakir Husain and Santosh Kumar Sharma
Springer Singapore
Zakir Husain
Springer Singapore
Zakir Husain, Diganta Mukherjee, Mousumi Dutta, and Susmita Mukhopadhyay
Springer Singapore
Shobhit Goel and Zakir Husain
Elsevier BV
Sunil Kumar, Zakir Husain, and Diganta Mukherjee
Elsevier BV
Zakir Husain and Dona Ghosh
Springer Singapore