States » EastPosted at: Nov 4 2026 4:42PM


Odisha, J-PAL South Asia sign MoU to strengthen evidence-based policymaking

Bhubaneswar, Nov 4 (UNI) The Odisha Government and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia on Wednesday signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and support the state’s development goals under Odisha Vision 2036 and 2047.
Under the partnership, J-PAL South Asia will work with various government departments to identify priority policy challenges, generate rigorous research-based evidence and translate findings into actionable policy recommendations.
The MoU was signed by Additional Secretary, Planning and Convergence Department, Rashmi Kabi, and J-PAL South Asia Executive Director Shobhini Mukerji in the presence of Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary Deoranjan Kumar Singh, J-PAL South Asia Acting Associate Director (Policy) Murali Mallikarjunan and senior officials of various departments.
The collaboration builds on J-PAL South Asia’s engagement with Odisha since 2006 in areas such as early childhood education, foundational literacy and numeracy, governance, sanitation, agriculture and gender equality. It also includes support for Barnali, a gender-equity curriculum currently being taught in around 23,000 government schools, with J-PAL serving as the knowledge and research partner to the School and Mass Education Department and Breakthrough Trust.
A steering committee headed by the Chief Secretary, with senior government officials and J-PAL representatives, will oversee the partnership and meet every six months to review project proposals. Nodal officers from both sides will coordinate implementation, while individual projects will be designed in consultation with the concerned departments.
Garg said the partnership would help bring global research evidence into the state's policy priorities, adapt promising approaches to local needs and test data-driven solutions before scaling them up. She said the collaboration would support Odisha’s ambition of achieving Viksit Odisha by 2047.
Mukerji said Odisha had a strong track record of generating and using evidence in policymaking. J-PAL would continue to work with the state to adapt global best practices, develop innovative programmes and scale up interventions that deliver results.UNI MK AAB
Tags: #Odisha# J-PAL South Asia sign MoU to strengthen evidence-based policymaking
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