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Centre for Equity and Social Development (CESD)
Email : cesd@nird.gov.in
SCOPE
Development is by its nature social. Its ends embody social values. Its means are social processes and institutions. Its benefits and costs are distributed across communities, social groups, and organizations. All development is, therefore, in some sense social - because all development necessarily expresses social objectives, requires social mechanisms in order to achieve those objectives, and has social consequences. In fact all development is social development in the sense that people are the central purpose of development, their skills and capacities its critical resource.
Within the process of development, social and economic development form two sides of the same coin. Social development's most distinctive feature is its attempt to harmonize social policies with measures designed to promote economic development. Social development is a process of planned social change designed to promote the well being of the population as a whole in conjunction with a dynamic process of economic development.
ocial development encompasses a very broad concern for the development of people, for an improvement in people's lives and for giving people some control over their lives. Social Development is thus obviously a multi-dimensional effort. It means literacy, education, good health, and all that goes to make good health possible like food and nutrition, security, drinking water, easy availability of medical and health facilities - both preventive and curative, and full and productive employment. It means life for the individual in freedom and dignity, free from being discriminated against on grounds of sex, race, colour, religion or caste. It means life in security where the society in which the individual lives lets the individual life in a manner that suits him while at the same time not infringing on other people's rights.
The Centre for Equity and Social Development (CESD) in NIRD plays significant role in promoting equity and social development in rural areas through research, training and consultancy services.
FOCUS
The CESD focuses mainly on policies, strategies, and programmes that promote social development in rural areas. Its emphasis is on poverty reduction not just in terms of increased production but also in terms of helping poor people gain equal access to participation in the social, economic and political process of development through enhancement of the level of education, health, employment opportunities outside family, which cut across the class, caste, race, gender, ethnic groups, rural-urban divide etc. Participation, the means by which poor people can be directly involved in development, is another important area in which CESD focuses its attention. In promoting social development, empowerment of poor people to extend, their areas of knowledge and acquire new skills and abilities that could enable them to better defend and promote their livelihoods, is very important component and area of crucial concern of the CESD. Similarly, women's social and economic development and the promotion of gender equity to ensure equal access to resources and development benefits are also the key areas in which the CESD focuses its attention. The CESD also attaches significant importance to the mainstreaming of the marginalized sections of the society e.g. the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, differently abled persons in rural areas, and the child labour.
Centre's Mandate
a.	To study the problems of improvement in the quality of life in the rural areas;
b.	To understand the factors that promote economic growth in rural areas through Human Resources Development.
c.	To examine the forces which prohibit and retard the process of equitable distribution of income, resources and benefits of development;
d.	To critically examine the factors that promote broad based people's participation;
e.	To identify the constraints involved in mainstreaming the deprived and marginalised sections of society; and
f.	To share the experiences gained in understanding the above issues through publications, seminars/workshops and training programmes.
Faculty Profile