Mr. Arpit Arora will present his viva-voce examination as per the details below:

Date: Monday, 16th February 2026

Time: 1330 – 1530 hrs.

Venue: C-TARA Conference Room No.1

Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/vgg-xxey-dqo

Topic: Mixed Repertoire of Coping by SLBs Facing Pressures and Constraints in COVID-19 Control Room

Guide: Prof. Subodh Wagle, C-TARA

Co-Guide: Prof. Anand B. Rao, C-TARA

Chairperson: Prof. Shishir Kumar Jha, ADCPS

External Examiner: Prof. Kanchan Mukherjee, TISS Mumbai

Internal Examiner: Prof. Pankaj Sekhsaria, C-TARA

RPC Members: Prof. N. C. Narayanan (ADCPS), Prof. Pankaj Sekhsaria

Abstract: 

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated societies worldwide, and India—the world's most populous country—was no exception. The pandemic put the country's already struggling healthcare system under immense stress, leading it to a highly vulnerable situation. The scale, fatality, and uncertainty associated with the pandemic posed serious challenges to the government's response at all levels. In such a demanding and uncertain situation, the frontline workers, i.e., people dealing with the pandemic at the frontlines, played a critical role in mitigating the spread of the disease and treating the patients. These frontline workers are, in fact, the last but critical links of the bureaucracy or the public delivery system in the country. Michael Lipsky, in his seminal work on Street-Level Bureaucracy Theory, calls these frontline workers Street-Level Bureaucrats (SLBs).

This dissertation is focused on the broad societal concern 'Functioning of Street-Level Bureaucrats (SLBs) in policy implementation, especially in a situation like COVID-19, wherein the crisis created acute Work Constraints.' It investigates the social phenomenon of 'Coping Actions taken for dealing with the Work Constraints faced by SLBs in the COVID-19 Control Room.' It focuses on gaining a detailed, comprehensive, and nuanced understanding of the phenomenon through the two concepts instrumental to the street-level bureaucracy theory—Work Constraints and Coping Actions, where in Coping Actions are closely related to Work Constraints as they are seen as responses to Work Constraints. 

The fieldwork for the study was conducted in the COVID-19 Control Room established by the Indore District Administration from May 2020 to September 2020 in the city of Indore in central India. The research participants involved the SLBs working in the Home Isolation and Contact Tracing activities in the COVID-19 Control Room. The study identified twelve different types of SLBs engaged in the two activities. The primary methods used for data collection were semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and non-participant observations. The data was analyzed using a combination of conventional Thematic Analysis and Display Analysis methods.

The 'Work Constraints' concept was defined as the factors that either limited or hindered the functioning of SLBs who were trying to execute their tasks according to the standard operating procedures (SOPs). The study of this concept presented five different categories of Work Constraints faced by the SLBs while completing their tasks. These included constraints due to Additional Tasks, High Demand for SLBs' Services, Inadequate Resources, Non-Compliance by Patients, and Disruption in Work Schedule. Within the above mentioned five categories, sixteen sub-categories were identified. 

The second concept—'Coping Actions'— was defined as the behavioural efforts that the SLBs employ in response to the various Work Constraints faced by the SLBs in their work environment. The findings of this concept presented four different broad categories of Coping Actions. These include: Duty Dilution, Duty Evasion, Duty Compliance at Extra Costs, and Transcending Duty Compliance for Public Interest. Within the above-mentioned four broad categories, fifteen different sub-categories were identified.

In this dissertation, Chapter 1 briefly introduces the study and its various components and sets the context for this study. Chapter 2 presents a review of the literature on the theoretical framework of the Street-Level Bureaucracy Theory adopted for the study, specifically in the public health emergency and crisis. Chapter 3 describes the research design adopted for the study, its various components, and the field context for the study. Chapter 4 delineates and discusses the tasks performed by different SLBs and the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for these tasks. Chapter 5 covers the first crucial concept of the social phenomenon— Work Constraints. It discusses the various types of Work Constraints faced by the SLBs during their task completion. Chapter 6 discusses the second crucial concept— Coping Actions. It discusses the different categories and sub-categories of Coping Actions opted by the SLBs to deal with the Work Constraints. Chapters 5 and 6 present a comprehensive, detailed, and nuanced understanding of the social phenomenon under study. Apart from discussing categories and subcategories of the two concepts, which provide a comprehensive and detailed picture, the chapters also present a few nuances of the manifestation of the concepts and phenomenon in terms of contextualised explanations of similarities and differences in the manifestation of the social phenomenon. Chapter 7 presents the contributions of the study to the existing academic literature and policy and practices. The contributions to the academic literature cover the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological contributions. This is followed by the conclusion of this study, presented in Chapter 8. This chapter provides a detailed summary of the dissertation and key takeaways of this study. The chapter concludes by discussing the study's limitations and future scope. 

Keywords: Street-Level Bureaucracy; COVID-19; Frontline Workers; Coping; Work Constraints; Public Health; Crisis