J-Pal launches operations in India

Chennai, July 13: The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working on eradicating poverty, today announced the establishment of its first field office here.

The proposed field office will serve as the headquarters of J-Pal's south asian operations, director Abhijit Banerjee told reporters here.

The Institute of Financial Management and Research (IFMR), a leading business school, has partnered with J-Pal to host the Chennai field office, he added.

J-Pal South-Asia at IFMR would work to improve the effectiveness of poverty eradication programmes in the region by providing policy makers with clear scientific results that help shape successful policies to combat poverty, he said.

The field office would facilitate the management of rigorous evaluations of poverty alleviation strategies, strengthen relationships with partner organisations througout the region, build local capacity to undertake rigorous evaluations and disseminate the results of research.

Mr Banerjee said "J-Pal south-Asia and its mission of translating research into policy action through dissemination and dialogue with local partners has been funded by a grant from the Mulago Foundation".

"India is at a time of great historical importance, where the future of the country depends on its ability to succeed in bringing the poor along with the rich as its economy continues to grow at astounding rates", he added.

"We chose India as choice for our first field office as it has encouraged its researchers to critically assess what is effective in eradicating poverty and how to ensure that all Indians benefit from economic growth", he said.

UNI