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NIRD CITIZEN’S CHARTER
What is NIRD ?
National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.  Through its training and research activities, NIRD endeavours to upgrade the knowledge skills and to bring in required attitudes among its clientele group. NIRD sensitizes the elected representatives and rural development functionaries about the impact of various Rural Development initiatives of the Union Government and the State Governments and also about the emerging challenges in the field of Rural Development. NIRD’s activities and contact details can be seen on its website: www.nird.org.in.
Vision:
The vision of NIRD is to focus on the policies and programmes that benefit the rural poor, strive to energize the democratic decentralization process, improve the operational efficiency of rural development personnel, promote transfer of technology through its social laboratories and technology park and create environmental awareness.

 As a `think-tank’ for the Ministry of Rural Development, NIRD while acting as a storehouse of information on rural development would assist the Ministry in policy formulation and choice of options in rural development to usher in the change.
Mission:
To examine and analyze the factors contributing to the improvement of economic and social well being of people in rural areas on a sustainable basis with focus on the rural poor and the other disadvantaged groups through research, action research, consultancy and documentation efforts.

To facilitate the rural development efforts with particular emphasis and focus on the rural poor by improving the knowledge, skills and attitudes of rural development officials and non-officials through organizing training, workshops and seminars.
Business Transacted:
NIRD is engaged in the following activities with a view to achieving the related activities:
I Organize training programmes, conferences, seminars and Workshops for senior level development managers, elected Representatives, bankers, NGOs and others.  A proforma is made available to the trainees for assessing the effectiveness of various components of each training programme and their relevance to the specific needs of the clientele groups.  On the basis of the feedback thus received, the overall effectiveness of the training activity is measured.  These evaluations are reviewed regularly.  A summary of the training performance is presented to the Executive Council and the General Council.  The recommendations of the national level seminars and workshops, held regularly, are brought out in the form of a book for reference by the concerned and are displayed on the website of the Institute.  
II Undertake, aid, promote and coordinate research on its own  and through other agencies.  Greater emphasis is laid on the application aspects.  Research studies are published for wider dissemination of the research findings.  A summary of the findings is circulated to various organizations and are also put out on the website of the NIRD for perusal of academicians and others.
III Study various aspects of the Panchayati Raj Institutions, local level governance across the states;
IV Analyze and propose solutions to problems in planning and    implementation of the programmes for rural development; 
V Disseminate information through periodicals, reports and other publications.
VI Provide consultancy services to both national and international organizations as well as Ministries of Govt. of India and Departments of State Governments.
Clientele:
The clientele of NIRD include rural development functionaries at district level and above, elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, NGOs, Bankers, Community-based Organizations and academics from universities and institutions. NIRD has partnership with multilateral and bilateral organizations like World Bank, DFID, AARRO, UNDP, etc. NIRD closely works with various Ministries of Government of India and State Governments. NIRD gives policy inputs in the area of poverty reduction. NIRD offers institutional programmes under the fellowship programme of the Govt. of India.
Training calendar:
Training calendar of NIRD for 2004-05 can be seen at its website: http://www.nird.org.in/tprograms.html  
Fee for training:
Government functionaries of rural development are trained free while, some clients e.g. public sector undertakings, banking institutions, international organizations etc., will have to pay the prescribed course fee which will vary according to duration and content of programme.  Consultancy/sponsored programmes are charged through negotiations. Details can be seen for any given programme at our website.
Action Research:
The Institute undertakes location and community specific research for field-testing of various themes or models, step-by-step, while actually implementing the project on ground.  Day-to-day interventions are modified according to the situation prevailing in the project area.  It is a process of learning while doing and also social laboratory for trainees. The Institute has also taken up the important process of documenting its efforts to enable policy makers, rural development functionaries, state governments, etc., to pick up learning points for application of such process oriented implementation of programmes.  The tangible outcomes of Action Research are: i) to strengthen working relationships among the Government Agencies and also promote public - private partnerships; ii) to provide opportunities for tapping the local traditional wisdom and also to facilitate greater participation of the disadvantaged sections in all local development endeavors; iii) to identify cost effective and eco-friendly alternative development models for sustainable Rural Development.
Institution Building and Networking:
Capacity building of over six million elected representatives and Panchayati Raj & Rural Development Functionaries is a prerequisite for achieving the goals of Rural Development.  NIRD plays a crucial role in strengthening the training infrastructure of State Institutes of Rural Development (SIRDs) and Extension Training Centers (ETCs) besides augmenting the capabilities of the faculty members of these Rural Development Training Institutions.  Though `Training of Trainers' (TOT) programmes in the field of communication skills, participatory training methods and Approaches to Social Science Research besides the NIRD off-campus training programmes, it enriches the capabilities of faculty and strengthen RD Training Institutions in the conduct of periodic training programmes effectively.  The Annual Colloquium of Secretaries of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development and Heads of State Institutes of Rural Development, National Meet of Heads of State Institutes of Rural Development and Extension Training Centers and the Regional Meetings of Heads of SIRDs and ETCs provide opportunities to the representatives of these RD Training Institutions to explore the various ways of networking for sharing the resources and expertise for the common benefit and also for enhancing the effectiveness of training programmes of these institutions.
The statement of services provided to each client of the citizen group separately with specific standards, which should be measurable, realistic and challenging:
NIRD is an Academic Institution organizing research and training for rural development functionaries so as to facilitate rapid socio-economic transformation of rural areas. 

Our clients are official and non-official functionaries who are responsible to implement the development programmes, deliver development inputs and services.  Through training we are improving this capacity in terms of management skills,  knowledge and attitude.  These can be measured by the improvement in their efficiency of discharging their functions. At the end of each training programme, participants’ evaluation is done on various parameters.
Statement of Services
S.No. Service Clientele Standards
1. Training
(A) Regular NIRD
(1 week/2 week)  

(B) Sponsored
(As per requirement)  

(C) International
(4 – 12 weeks)                              
(D) Special programmes
State Govt. Depts. functionaries at district and above

· NGOs

· Middle and senior level employees of GOI

· Financial institutions

· Universities, Training/Research institutions

·Elected representative MPs/MLAs/ZP
· Timely, quality, and prescribed number of programmes

· 75% above evaluation rating of each course.
(Quality standard)
2. Research · Policy makers

· Implementing agencies

· Academics 		Scrutiny by subject matter specialist about the quality of reports. Making available reports on time to public either on price or free of cost. Placing the findings in the public domain.

3.

Consultancy ·    Various ministries

·    Various state Govts

·    National and international organizations 		Timely and quality report as agreed to in TOR/ contract
Expectations from the client and citizen:
  		• Good governance, transparency in all developmental activities and efficiency in the implementation of programme and delivering of services.
  		• Attend, gain and use the training given
  		• Share the knowledge and skills gained from NIRD services
  		• Timely and on schedule payment of fees/charges agreed upon
  		• Help (suggest) in improving services of NIRD
    NIRD obtains data from the clientele groups directly (trough training needs analysis exercises) and also indirectly through the state governments and other institutional channels.  The interaction of the faculty with these groups is the most common mode of eliciting their expectations.  The evaluation feedbacks of the training programmes is the major means of judging the extent to which the expectations are met clientele group –wise.  The TOT programmes and Off-campus programmes are also interventions for fulfilling the aspirations of the clientele groups in terms of acquisition of knowledge, attitudes and skills.  The training material including case studies (developed by NIRD and others) and films offer ample opportunities for various members of the different clientele groups to learn from the rich experiences (success as well as failures) of other members and other groups.
    Being a national level research and training institution, the scope for direct interaction with the citizen with a view to meet his/her expectations is a limited.  However, the research reports highlight the problems and aspirations of the citizens and these reports are usually referred to the development departments, which in turn facilitate the realization of citizens expectations from development processes.
    Details of grievance redressal mechanism and how to access the same:

    The various clientele groups can approach the Director General, NIRD regarding their grievances, if any, concerning the RD training and research activities including consultancy services in the field of research and training.   

    Through research and diagnostic studies, the feed back on the problems of the people in general and the target groups of various programmes are provided to the policy makers and field expectations of various Centers and State ministries and departments involved in Rural Development. 
    An in-built schedule for periodic review:
    The Executive Council and the General Council meet periodically to review the research and training activities of NIRD.  The Research Advisory Committee (RAC and the Academic Committee (AC) meet once a year (if necessary, more frequently).  The national colloquium of State Secretaries of PR and RD Departments, the national meet of Heads of ETCs and SIRDs, the zonal meets etc. facilitate interaction of the public servants and others with the NIRD community.  This dialogue helps in understanding the needs of each clientele group and gives vital feedback on the quality of the services rendered by NIRD.  The Ministry of RD, New Delhi also reviews the performance of NIRD periodically through meetings and progress reports.
  		• Monthly/quarterly reviews at central level and at DDG/DG level. 
  		• Evaluation proforma for each course
  		• Five yearly external evaluation of NIRD training impact. 
    Information dissemination:
    The Institute brings out a publication titled 'Rural Development Statistics" an annual basis.  Besides providing progress data on a host of Rural Development / Anti-Poverty Programmes and the Schemes, this publication highlights both spatial and ime series trends in different dimensions/aspects that impinge on the lives of rural people.  Academicians, policymakers and programme Implementers are finding this publication very useful. 
    Rural Technology Park :
    NIRD is engaged in operationalising a Rural Technology Park with an objective to help in dissemination of affordable and appropriate technologies.  The strategy to be adopted is a double-pronged approach with equal emphasis on two components.  The first component is demonstration of technology models at NIRD with a variety of static, simulated and live models in stalls and thematic pavilions.  The second component is actually by taking successful and proven technologies to the villages and practically using these technologies with the active involvement of primary stake holders, with the help of Community Based Organizations (CBOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs), Gram Panchayats (GPs) and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).  This process of transfer of technology can take place through careful selection of user groups, enabling them to select appropriate technologies and arrive at appropriate formal arrangements.  SHG's/GP's will use the machinery to maximum capacity by purchasing raw material, to take care of operation and to give quarterly feedback to NIRD on the practical utility or otherwise of the technology. 
    North Eastern  Regional Centre of NIRD :
    The North Eastern Regional Centre of NIRD was set up in June 1983 at Guwahati, Assam to boost the rural development efforts in this region and to adapt its training and research activities to suit the needs and problems of the North Eastern Region.  Over the years the Centre has been able to prove itself as a premier training and research organization in the N.E. Region.  NIRD shares all important information including tender queries at its web site www.nird.org.in
    In case of any suggestions or ideas on any particular training need or study relevant to poverty reduction or rural development, the nodal officer may be contacted.
    Nodal Officer :
    Smt Dhana Lakshmi A, i/c
    Registrar & Director (Admn.)
    National Institute of Rural Development
    Phone numbers: 24008403/ 24008504/ 24008503 (Resi.)
    Email address:  regr@nird.gov.in
    		 

    		 
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