Fellow: Nikhila Vijay
Host Organisation: Janaagraha

About the Host Organisation
Janaagraha is a nonprofit trust dedicated to transforming the quality of life in India’s cities and towns. By working with citizens and governments, Janaagraha strengthens city-systems to deliver high-quality infrastructure and services. Its focus areas include civic participation, municipal finance, and policy and insights. The fellow collaborated with the policy and insights team to explore pathways for low-income urban households in Odisha to transition to cleaner energy sources.
Problem Statement and Project Objective
Low-income urban households in Odisha face significant barriers to adopting cleaner energy sources, such as cost, accessibility, and policy constraints. These barriers expose them to polluting fuels, which have adverse environmental impacts and health outcomes, especially for women and children.
The project aimed to analyse survey data to:
- Understand existing fuel consumption behaviors.
- Link traditional fuel use to health outcomes.
- Create tools to help stakeholders evaluate the costs of transitioning to cleaner energy sources.
- Understand health implications and comparisons drawn from moving to cleaner energy fuel sources.
Data Sources and Tools
Data Sources:
- National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21): Aggregated fuel consumption and health data at district and cluster levels.
- Janaagraha Survey Dataset: Data from 5,369 households across 29 low-income settlements in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Koraput.
Tools and Techniques:
- Data Analysis Automation: Customised R functions to generate survey data summaries and fuel-specific analyses.
- Spatial Mapping: R Shiny dashboards to map fuel choices and health outcomes at district and cluster levels.
- Cost Calculator: A dashboard to evaluate fuel expenditure, savings, and payback periods for transitioning to cleaner fuels.
Results and Insights
- Automated Survey Data Analysis: Simplified the generation of summary tables and customisable functions for replicable analysis.
- Spatial Mapping: Created dashboards visualising the correlation between cooking fuel choices and women’s health outcomes in Odisha.
- Cost Calculator: Designed an interactive dashboard that calculates fuel expenditure savings and payback periods for cleaner energy transitions, aiding stakeholders in decision-making.
Outputs
- Automated survey analysis code generating customisable summary tables.
- Spatial dashboards mapping fuel choices and health indicators.
- Cost calculator dashboard to evaluate cleaner energy transitions.
Related Article
Impact and Way Forward
A symposium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, brought together community members, government officials, donors, civil society organisations, and technology suppliers to share findings. Stakeholders expressed interest in the cost calculator dashboard, and plans are underway to make it publicly accessible. Next steps include presenting results to stakeholders in Odisha and other states to support policy and decision-making.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Neha Singh, Katie Pyle, Mohammad Mansoor, and Selvam K from Janaagraha for their guidance, and Aditi Namdeo from J-PAL SA for her support and mentorship.