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Menstrual cycles are an integral part of a nearly two-third of a woman’s life, and occur every month. Menstruation is a public health concern because irrespective of whether a woman can afford hygienic absorbents or not, she undergoes menstruation phase every month. Therefore, menstruation requires to be examined from public health policy perspective. Choice of menstrual products is not only subject to budget constraint but also to “other regarding preferences”, as can be explained by behavioural economics theories. This study therefore, seeks to get insights into the determinants of choice of menstrual product. The study attempts to devise a method of estimating the minimum yearly cost of menstrual hygiene and also provides an estimate for the same, which can be helpful for the policy prescription. The study is undertaken in Gujarat (India), from a cross-section of districts (developed, developing and tribal), and also a cross-section of socioeconomic status and age. A total of 1025 responses are collected and analysed to get insights into product preferences and resultant cost. The study finds that it is economical to make use of menstrual cups, however, cultural constrains might restrict its use.

for conducting the field work and undertaking the task of data entry.• The faculty of the Centre for Social Studies (CSS) for useful comments on the questionnaire and facilitating the study.• Those who participated in the post-survey workshop and encouraged the students for conducting the field work within a short span.• The respondents for their patience and co-operation while replying to our queries at a time when their lives were in a mess.

HR analytics is a paradigm shift from a traditional and intuitive-based approach to an evidence-based approach for aiding decision-making processes to enhance employee as well as organizational performance and profitability. This chapter discusses the concept of HR analytics, followed by its application to three HR functions: recruitment, employee engagement, and employee retention. Two case studies for each of these three HR functions are also succinctly discussed. Some relevant statistics regarding the current state of implementation of HR analytics in organizations is also briefly discussed. Key issues related to the HR analytics implementation process, moderating factors to implement HR analytics, and challenges of implementation are also discussed in this chapter. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the future of HR analytics. Considering the scope of the book, technical details like regression models or machine learning algorithms are not discussed in this chapter.

Mid-day meal (MDM) Scheme was launched by the Government of India (GoI) in 1995 with an objective to encourage enrollment, increase attendance, improve retention rate, reduce the drop-out rate and most importantly, improving the nutritional status among children studying in primary (including upper primary) schools (GoI, 2017). Children enrolled in class 1 to 8 are primary school students. In fact, some states had implemented the mid-day meal scheme even before 1995. Gujarat had implemented this scheme, way back in 1984 (Government of Gujarat, 2019). Over these years, the scheme evolved from covering the children of government schools, government-aided schools and local-body schools to include children studying under the education guarantee schemes (EGS) and Alternative and Innovative Education (AIE) centres. EGS and AIE are non-formal education centres; the details could be found in Department of Elementary Education and Literacy, (2001). The nutritional needs of the children are taken care by providing them a square meal for lunch at school. As per the MDM implementation guidelines (GoI: MHRD, 2011), the meals are required to be cooked in the school premises, either by a dedicated staff employed by the school or by the members of the self-help groups (SHGs). The scheme is funded jointly by the Centre and the State in the ratio of 60:40 and 100 per cent by the Central Government for Union Territories (GoI: MHRD, 2019b). Details of MDM scheme can be found in (GoI: MHRD, 2019a).School closures following the lockdown, imposed as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, naturally led to closures of the MDM kitchens. Amid the lockdown and school closures, the results of a study by KMIC, (2020) reveal that 85 per cent of the children are deprived of the benefits to be provided in lieu of the mid-day meals, and also