In recent decades evidence-based policy making has found favour with governments worldwide for designing successful, efficient and effective policies. Data in the 21st century is on par with oil as a strategic asset. The 2019 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences was awarded to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their pioneering work in the use of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effectiveness of poverty alleviation interventions, bringing the rigour of scientific research to policy development. A policy is claimed to be successful on the basis of evidence, in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics. It is in this context that the introductory course on data driven policy making is presented to explain the management of data at the Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation stages of a policy.

• To cultivate a sophisticated understanding of the key ideas of ‘Results’ and ‘Measurement’ subsumed under the discipline of Management and supported by data collation and inference
• To introduce participants to policy making as an essential prerequisite to development of laws and regulations
• Introduction to “Direct Experience”, “Inference” and “Testimony” as the source of knowledge, and the use of data from each of these categories
• To illustrate concepts through the use of actual case studies which employ the application of the evidential approach
• The conversion of beliefs, opinion and insights into data that can be assessed using ratio scales that can measure the strength of preference, importance and desirable states

By the end of the course you will have:

• Familiarity with the role of data and data analysis in informing policy decisions
• Practical appreciation of the application of the evidence-based approach illustrated with caselets and case studies
• A deep understanding of the concepts of policy cycle, methods of measurement, monitoring and evaluation and participatory policy planning

Session	Topics covered	Duration of Session
1	Introduction to policy development on the basis of data analysis in lieu of ideology, conservatism or resistance to change Familiarising participants with methods of measurement Introduction to ‘Wisdom of Crowds’ and Participatory policy planning, Monitoring and Evaluation	4th September, 2021 Saturday 1 1⁄2 hours session (3 PM to 4:30 PM)
2	Conceptual understanding of evidence and principal means of Knowledge Policy Cycle and the route to policy evaluation a) Agenda Setting, b) Policy Research, c) Problem Analysis, d) Alternatives Analysis, e) Program Design, f) Policy Implementation, g) Policy Monitoring, h) Policy Evaluation Interactive session with Q & A Session	4th September, 2021 Saturday 1 1⁄2 hours session (5 PM to 6:30 PM)
3	Application of Evidence based analysis(EBA) and case studies Evaluation of the Government of Kerala's "People's Planning" - Decentralisation of Government Policy, 1996	5th September, 2021 Sunday 1 1⁄2 hours session (3 PM to 4:30 PM)
4	Analysis of poverty perspectives of government officers and perspectives of poor women Interactive session with Q & A	5th September, 2021 Sunday 1 1⁄2 hours session (5 PM to 6:30 PM)

Ajit Mani
Ajit Mani is a Senior Fellow (Policy Research and Training) at CPPR and has an unusual breadth of professional experience, most of it in rural India and the unorganised urban sector.

Ajit Mani worked for Malayalam Plantations (UK) Ltd from 1967 to 1979 in tea and rubber estates.

He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (1983-85), where he specialised in Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Management. His Organisational Project was with the Centre for Environmental Studies (IISc), Bangalore under the Guidance of Prof. Madhav Gadgil, Director CES. His Project Report (1984) titled “Agrarian Technology and Ecodegradation of Betta Forests in Salkani Village in North Kanara District, Karnataka '' was accepted as Technical Report 1 of the CES, Indian Institute of Science.

His experience includes survey research, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and Development Communications, developed over several assignments. He is a specialist in the LOGICAL FRAMEWORK and has facilitated many workshops for multilateral and bilateral agencies.


All the mandatory categories in the application form must be filled in order for an application to be considered. Further details are provided in the application form.

This course can be taken by anyone with adequate English conversational skills. However, graduates with a background in Probability and Statistics and Research Methodology are likely to benefit the most in the Zoom environment.

Anyone can take this course, as long as you are able to attend all the webinars, complete the quiz and assignment on time.