Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) is all set to formally launch a new institute for conducting scientific research and evaluation of various government programmes and examine their impact on agriculture and rural development.
An announcement regarding the institution, christened the Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development Policy Research (CARP), is likely to be made by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Independence Day.
The university management held a virtual conference with experts and deliberated on the modalities of the proposed centre, and is contemplating a formal launch of the centre this month. The proposed centre will collect and analyse primary and secondary data on various parameters and current information from government bodies as well as relevant data from stakeholders. The analysis will involve elaborate and comprehensive software packages in order to enable better decision-making.
When contacted, ANGRAU Vice Chancellor A. Vishnuvardhan Reddy said that the main objective of CARP will be to conduct scientific research of various government programmes and provide policy support inputs to the government for better execution of ongoing schemes. The thrust areas of the centre include policy studies, impact assessment and evaluation studies of rural development, crop cost studies, capacity building and database management, he said.
CARP head G. Raghunadha Reddy said that the institute will provide supporting information to policymakers for the formulation of effective and viable economic policies, market strategies and impact assessment studies in agriculture for attaining the goal of rural welfare. “CARP will study the schemes and programmes such as Rythu Bharosa, e-crop bookings, subsidy seeds, price stabilisation fund, free electricity, and other schemes that are being implemented by the State government,” he said.
A.P. Agricultural Mission executive member M. Chandrasekhar Reddy said that the implementation of government schemes such as Rythu Bharosa programmes needs systematic policy reviews and mid-term corrections to achieve the goals of food security and employment. This apart, CARP would also evaluate the implementation of a host of welfare schemes being implemented by the State government. The economic indicators designed under the agriculture and rural development activities require concurrent evaluation to ensure the steady growth of the rural economy in the State with social justice and equity. The efforts of the government to achieve double-digit economic growth need a policy support decision mechanism, he said.
