“Good governance must manifest the values of effectiveness and efficiency, justice in the rule of law, accountability, participation and consensus orientation, responsiveness and equity”-UNDP.

“A society must be built in which every village has to be self sustained and capable of managing its own affairs... Independence begins at the bottom”  –Mahatma Gandhi.

Since 1956, NCAER has done pioneering research work in the field of applied economics in India. Its strength is policy analysis and application of modern quantitative techniques to development issues, regional development and planning, household income, consumption, savings, investment and energy. A wide gamut of research projects has been undertaken by the research teams at NCAER, commissioned by both State and Union governments, along with agencies like the World Bank, UNDP, CIDA and the Ford Foundation.

NCAER has had a long association with IDRC; the two institutions have collaborated on a variety of events and projects in the past. Now, as part of a new programme initiative, "Globalisation, Growth and Poverty" (GGP), IDRC has provided a grant to NCAER to conduct research on “Decentralization, Rural Governance and Inclusive Growth: Linkages and Implications".

Project Overview

The Indian economy has experienced exponential growth in the last decade, but the rural poor still remain an issue of national concern. Additionally, it is a widely shared view that fast-paced economic growth could easily exacerbate existing inequities in a stratified society like India’s if the growth is not inclusive. Apart from income inequality, persistent differences in access to public infrastructure and social services like education and health are also significant concerns for India. Without accountable institutions that deliver public goods and services to the whole community it may be difficult to create conditions for the rural poor to escape the clutches of poverty by taking advantage of the economic opportunities opened up by globalised markets. Committed to the cause of inclusive growth, the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution, decentralised rural governance, and subsequently service delivery, in order to enhance effectiveness.  

NCAER, under IDRC’s programme initiative on ‘Decentralization, Rural Governance and Inclusive Growth’, seeks to discern whether the present level of Decentralization and the creation of appropriate institutions are effective for achieving pro-poor growth. The belief that a ‘bottom-up’ approach to public goods provision is more likely to be inclusive is the key motivation. With greater decentralization, the satisfaction level of the target population with respect to delivery of public goods has certainly improved. In addition, when public goods are provided in a decentralised setting, the inefficiencies of continuous transfers from higher to lower levels of governments could be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.