Bhubaneswar, Nov 4: The Odisha government and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia today signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen evidence-based policymaking across the state.

J-PAL South Asia, hosted at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, will work with departments to identify priority policy challenges, generate rigorous evidence, and translate research findings into actionable policy recommendations.

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The MoU was signed by Rashmi Kabi, FA-cum-Additional Secretary, Planning & Convergence Department, and Shobhini Mukerji,Executive Director, J-PAL South Asia, in the presence of Anu Garg, Chief Secretary, Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Development Commissioner, and Murali Mallikarjunan, Acting Associate Director, Policy, J-PAL South Asia.

Odisha Vision 2036 and 2047 charts the state’s path to becoming Samruddha Odisha by 2036 and Viksit Odisha by 2047. The partnership builds on J-PAL South Asia’s engagement in Odisha since 2006, spanning across early childhood education, foundational literacy and numeracy, governance, sanitation, agriculture and gender. Under the MoU, the Government has invited J-PAL South Asia to support its vision, with J-PAL coordinating with departments to understand their policy priorities. It includes Barnali, the gender-equity curriculum now being taught in about 23,000 government schools, where J-PAL serves as the knowledge and research partner to the School & Mass Education Department and Breakthrough Trust.

The partnership will be guided by a steering committee chaired by the Chief Secretary, comprising senior government officials and representatives from J-PAL South Asia. The committee will meet every six months to review project proposals, while nodal officers from both sides will coordinate activities. The scope and deliverables of individual projects will be developed in consultation with the relevant departments.

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Anu Garg said, “We have set ourselves an ambitious goal of Viksit Odisha for Viksit Bharat. Our vision commits us to engaging research institutions in policy research and piloting innovations, as well as adopting data- and AI-based interventions in line with global best practices. I see J-PAL South Asia's role as threefold. First, to bring the most relevant global evidence to bear on our priorities; second, to work with our departments to adapt promising approaches to Odisha’s needs; and third, to support us in designing and testing evidence-and data-based solutions before they are taken to scale.”

Shobhini Mukerji, Executive Director, J-PAL South Asia, said "Odisha has long been a pioneer in generating and using evidence. With this partnership, we look forward to continuing our work with the Government of Odisha on its policy priorities: bringing global evidence, adapting it to local needs, co-developing programmes, and testing and scaling what works. Together, we will also work within the state’s strong foundation in monitoring and evaluation capacity."