VISION AND MISSION

The Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) is an autonomous, non-profit research organization located in north-west India. It works from an inclusive perspective, for an equitable socio-economic transformation to build a humane and just society. The core areas for research explorations have evolved in consonance with area specific challenges and specialisation of research leadership. The first concern continues to be re-examination of the theoretical underpinning of varied empirical explanations for knowledge synthesis and the second relates to its transfer for interventions.

It is engaged in social research with implications for change in the fields of governance, economic development, peace, conflict resolution and policing, education and gender justice. By serving as a source of knowledge and innovation in these areas for government officials, activists and citizens it works to shape public policy, build institutions and citizens capacities and improve delivery of justice. The main thrust is to undertake research in association with stakeholders for advancing knowledge and interventions that fit local needs. It is committed to connecting local needs and knowledge with global standards of human rights and equity.

The Institute for Development and Communication has evolved from the specialisations of its founding members. They were growing social scientists, committed to generating knowledge to harness the potential of their region and address the special needs of the society of their origins. Rooted in the social milieu, the organisation could establish forward and backward linkages to knowledge generation, stakeholder support and policymakers in the North-Western India particularly state of Punjab. The engagement with social and economic issues confronting the region was tapered by the interest of the researchers which led to a programmatic thrust with the focus on process rather than on completion of projects. Continuous efforts are going on to consolidate this approach to build systematic interventions in a multi-pronged manner, by combining resources from local initiatives and to build upon the excellent outreach and relation with civil society, political leadership, vernacular and national media.

Approach

IDC has built partnerships that have provided support and sustenance across projects, research areas and overtime. The focus continues to be to construct knowledge from below. Issues raised at the grassroots level are empirically verified and shared across stakeholders to consolidate in policy initiatives. This has been possible with panning organisation of resources and research capacities to include a Governing body reflecting leadership across academic, policy planning, civil society and cultural traditions. Academic partnerships and research guidance from an internal committee have contributed to relevant methodology, multi disciplinary outlook and policy designed contributions. These have helped to evolve human resources to transfer knowledge into frameworks, strategy, mechanisms and tools for intervening for social development. IDC has also capable human resource to impart training methodologies for grassroot functionaries. A 10,000 plus library supports the research forays.

Challenges

IDC is committed to strengthen organisational capacity, transparency and exchange within its organisation. The Institute support to leadership development has led the governing body to allocate available funds to each research director to develop research initiatives with full autonomy, since 2007. It has also formalised interface from two or more units to promote multi-disciplinary perspectives in an effort to provide strong policy packages. The programme on Justice and Democratic Governance bridges Policing and Gender Units while the North-Western Regional Development Studies Unit encompasses all the specialisations in the organisation. Research methods courses have been organised, for research staff and interns placed in the organisation. There is a regular flow of interns, providing them exposure to researchable issues methods and data collection to link knowledge with practical ways for social change. It remains an unfulfilled effort to integrate performance ratings with project outputs and make financial systems friendly to researchers review for a cost-benefit analysis.

PRODUCTION AND DISSEMINATION OF SYNTHESISED KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ACADEMIC EXCHANGE

IDC has established linkages, both formal and informal with universities and academic initiatives in the region and globally. These partnerships have facilitated to build capacity on research by holding joint courses for researchers’ skill development, particularly on research methods and culturally-sensitive methodologies and training to shape research outputs for policy relevant use. And these partnerships have nurtured forums for linking research with viable policy initiatives and lead in organising research networks to strengthen their outputs to policy relevant products.

IDC has evolved a consortium with regional academic institutions to undertake an assessment of research output in areas of common research. Based on a cost benefit analysis, shape to future investments to policy making can be strengthened. The idea is to pool in resources to identify researchable issues, challenges faced and share resources of networks, policy inlets and publications. IDC has entered into formal arrangements with universities to encourage internship training and develop a curriculum for short and medium term internship capacity-building for meaningful contribution to social policy.

The building of causality analysis within and beyond specific areas of research requires both theoretical and methodological inputs from expertise in borderline disciplines, engagement with public policy and model testing. It is these expectations from strategic partnerships that help IDC to infuse different viewpoints and capacities that lead to production of synthesised knowledge, shaping of policy and involving the civil society as stakeholders.

Strategic partnerships

IDC draws on three types of strategic partnerships. One pertains to academic partnerships and exchange which are at the global, regional and local levels. The second draws on civil society organisations that are more regional and national in perspective and location, including NGOs, media and activists. The third refer to policymakers at national and local levels. Governance is a state function and IDC’s approach is to strengthen institutional mechanisms to make them responsive to the rights of citizens,’ particularly those on the margins.

In the north-western region, IDC has a strong network with Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) institutions, Panjab University, Chandigarh and Chandigarh University, Mohali and grassroots organisations who have partnered in research activities.

Globally, it has entered into formal arrangement with the Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan and University College, Stockholm, Sweden to:

  • 1. Strengthen the exchange of, and communication between, research institutions regarding research outcomes and research activities.
  • 2. To exchange academic materials and share periodicals published by research activities, the research institutions.
  • 3. To collaborate on research projects of mutual interest.

The Government of India Training Orientation and Research Centre located in IDC, to build teachers’ capacities provides a platform to share research findings and receive a feedback which is reworked into training capsules.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Research Units

IDC INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

The internship programme has been launched to provide opportunity to the emerging young scholars to familiarise with multi-disciplinary dimensions of a social phenomena. And also build their capacity to appreciate pluralities and inculcate diversity sensitivity.

RESEARCH LIBRARY

There are more than 10,000 titles in the Library.

Software:

  1. •Designed and developed in modules to take care of complete functionality required for automating libraries. All modules support data entry in Unicode and thus support all Indic scripts, also compatible to Z 39.50 which makes the retrieval easier.
  2. •Organised search of reading material from IDC portal.
  3. •Theme wise retrieval of information other than the general Author and title search.
  4. •An interactive query builder.

Research Facilities

To help in research the following facilities are provided by the IDC library.

  1. IDC Reports: In-house published titles are available. Academic material produced in interactions organised.
  2. • DELNET services for the research purpose of IDC staff
  3. • Movies are kept for the reference services depicting the culture and language of the region.
  4. Documentation: Dissemination and management of the newspaper clippings.

Ongoing/Online Databases/Facilities

  1. • Online resources includes: Contemporary voice of Dalits, co-operation and conflict, Indian Historical Review, Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Race & Class, Studies in History, Daedalus, Development and change, Asian Journal of Women’s studies, Politics and Gender, Signs, India Review and Journal of south Asian studies, Economic and political Weekly.
  2. Magzter Online: Database of leading magazines available.
  3. Inter Library Loan: Also subscribed to DELNET online database for the researchers.
  4. New collection Development: The collection is ever growing as over 300 titles on an average are added.

MEMBERSHIP

Improving Access to the users.

  1. • IDC is the member of knowledge cluster/hub as Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) which provides Sharing of library resources, Lecture notification amongst different institutions, Joint Ph.D. programs including common courses etc.
  2. • As an approved Research Centre of Panjab University, Chandigarh and Chandigarh Universty Mohali, IDC researchers can use Panjab University library resources and other academic facilities.

IDC’s struggle has been characterised by a critical appraisal of the existing social processes for the transformation of the society. It also involved tremendous effort to find direction between opposing claims of market i.e. efficiency, growth and social equity and justice. In the initial years of IDC’s existence, competing pulls of policy oriented research constraint to establishment priorities, problem centred research restricted by civil society felt needs and donors’ activism and fundamental research involving theory construction, model building and methodological innovations tamed by absence of systemic preference to speculate about other possibilities.

The trappings of glamour with instant recognition have thrown a new vocation of popcorn research, which challenged the established tedious collation of historical facts for social struggle. This drift swept away some of the research talent and resources. IDC could overcome some of these challenges by building its identity, autonomy and networks with independent minds. The foundation for intellectual adventurism to explore and build ‘other alternatives’ has been laid.

The core areas for research explorations have been sculpted for synergy to be infused by research leadership. The first concern continues to be re-examination of the theoretical underpinning of varied empirical explanations for knowledge synthesis and the second relates to its transfer for interventions. Our efforts have borne out that the research-based knowledge can be placed at the other end of the spectrum to make a difference at the margins. For transfer of knowledge, research outreach networks and interactive cultural sensitive methodological considerations to build connectivity with multicultural social sites shall continue to be our endeavour.

Dr. Pramod Kumar

Societies have their own dynamism and are always in struggle to find answers to pertinent questions to make living more human.

There is an increasing trend to reinforce the assumption that efforts to realise ‘other utopias’ are counterproductive. And any departure from status quo is considered as rank deviation and monism is being presented as the only source of growth. It is in this atmosphere, that an institution was born and we named it Institute for Development and Communication (IDC).

IDC was set up by a group of persons who aspired to produce and disseminate pro-people knowledge. It started with abundance of ideas and an almost non-existent material resource base. Those were difficult times, but pregnated with ample opportunities to realise one’s dreams. These opportunities were shaped by globalisation of ideas, technological revolution and pressing need for holistic knowledge.

In its 16 years of completion, IDC availed many opportunities, but at the same time continued its endeavour to maintain research autonomy and build the institutional resource base to pursue research as per its own priorities and mandate. It took a conscious decision of not to build research capacities dependent on maintenance grants. Rather we competed for research projects and to build up institutional resource base by nurturing research capital.

IDC is engaged in social research with implications for change in the field of social development, governance to improve public safety and justice, economic development for distributive justice and gender studies. The main thrust is to undertake research in association with the stakeholders to bring about practical reforms and develop new ways of delivering justice, develop empirically tested models to make the development processes more accessible to the marginalised sections of the society. It also networks with civil society organisations for advancing knowledge and interventions that fit local needs.

IDC emphasises the need for cross-cultural research methods and tools.It is also committed to connecting local needs and knowledge with global standards. IDC’s association with Altus Global Alliance for the promotion of justice provides a global platform for academic debate for practical exchange on methods of research and innovation.

To undertake research on socially relevant issues such as social conflict and peace studies; literacy and quality education; emerging trends in rural development and industrialisation; technology up-gradation; environment; women and gender sensitisation.

To build up co-operative interaction between different social and natural sciences for promoting holistic knowledge through inter-disciplinary research.

To promote communication between people of various ethnic groups, communities, classes, regions and professions.

To promote the vision of a just and equitable society, the hallmark of which should be balanced and sustainable development.