About Us

The poor, more than any other group, rely on basic public services – access to education, health care, water, and sanitation for their lives and livelihoods. For the poorest and most vulnerable, the difference that good make to their lives are profound. The complexities that prevent government institutions from providing constitutionally mandated securities, entitlements and basic services has critical consequences. They create barriers to intergenerational mobility that prevent poor families from lifting themselves out of poverty. We know, no country has prospered without an effective state structure.

The challenge to government functioning is unique for a deeply stratified society like India. Besides the institutional inertia, fragmented design and action often impedes execution while absence of systematic analysis prior to design and delivery of public programmes results in institutional ineffectiveness.

We need fresh thinking in our “public programmes”. We need new ways of thinking based on evidence, evolved well researched processes on programme design and delivery. The focus should be on disentangling the change process – context, institutions, agents, and events. Not underestimating the contextual limitations, we need to introduce innovative processes that leverage cutting-edge technologies that are increasingly becoming central to development. We also need to bring back the spotlight on personal relationships and mutual understanding as a potential locus of change.