Odisha government partners with J-PAL for evidence-based approach to policy formulation
The state government of Odisha and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia have partnered to support the state government in formulating effective policies to address malnutrition, women's empowerment, agricultural productivity, migration, health and labour productivity.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony with the Honourable Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik, Iqbal Dhaliwal, global executive director of J-PAL and Shobhini Mukerji, executive director of J-PAL South Asia. Senior ministers and officers of the Odisha Government were also in attendance.
Iqbal Dhaliwal, global executive director, J-PAL said, “We are very grateful to Government of Odisha for inviting us to work in the state. We are very impressed by the clear vision of the government for a transformative agenda, and its capacity to deliver as evidenced by the effective response to the cyclones. Our hope is to work closely with various departments on a journey to combine local expertise with rigorous evidence to inform policies that improve the lives of the poor."
The Government of Odisha signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia to engage in a strategic evidence-based approach to policymaking in order to maximise the impact of state anti-poverty programmes across a wide range of sectors. Under this partnership, J-PAL South Asia, which is hosted at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, will provide the Government of Odisha with technical assistance for the scale-up of evidence backed programmes to improve development outcomes across the state.
The partnership also establishes an overarching collaboration between J-PAL South Asia and the Government of Odisha under which J-PAL will work with several departments, including, but not limited to Labour, Education, Health, and Women and Child Development, to conduct policy-relevant randomised evaluations of new anti-poverty and development programmes. Additionally, a diagnostic exercise and subsequent workshops will be conducted to build state capacity in the area of monitoring and evaluation.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony with the Honourable Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik, Global Executive Director of J-PAL Iqbal Dhaliwal, and Executive Director of J-PAL South Asia Shobhini Mukerji. Senior ministers and officers of the Odisha Government were also in attendance.