Delhi govt to expand its policy think thank
Last week, the DDC had signed an MoU with MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) that will prove to be immensely helpful in DDC endeavours.
The Delhi government has approved a plan for restructuring and strengthening the capacity of its policy think-tank, the Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) of Delhi, its vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah announced on Tuesday.
“Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has set a bold vision for Delhi. Last year, he announced Delhi’s vision for 2047, and committed to building a city with a per capita income equal to that of Singapore; where every person, rich or poor, have a high standard of living; modern world-class infrastructure and public services, sustainable provisions for clean air and water; and is resilient in fighting disasters and climate change,” Shah said at a press conference held in Delhi secretariat.
“When we assessed ourselves against that goal, we realised that as an institution, DDC needed to be strengthened. On the basis of our assessment, we proposed institutional strengthening and restructuring of DDC last year. Our proposal has been accepted by the Delhi government and approved by the Delhi cabinet as well as the lieutenant-governor. It has now been notified in the Delhi Gazette. Now, DDC will have 48 sanctioned posts, including 26 posts for policy experts from various domains hired on contractual basis from around the world,” he said.
Summarising the two key highlights of the restructuring plan, Shah said first, the plan details the mandate of DDC which is to advise and assist the government’s work across six policy sectors. Each sector would be headed by an official in the rank of an advisor.
Last week, the DDC had signed an MoU with MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) that will prove to be immensely helpful in DDC endeavours.
J-PAL was co-founded by Nobel laureates Prof. Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee and we aim to involve more such scholars from the best of the institutions in the country and the world into our projects, Shah said.
