Centre for Development Studies

Infobox University
name =Centre for Development Studies
established =1971
type =Research Institution
director =Professor K. Narayanan Nair
city =Thiruvananthapuram
state =Kerala
country =India
campus =Urban
faculty =
students =
website = [http://www.cds.edu www.cds.edu]

The Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum, Kerala, India is a premier social science research institution. Over the years it has established a tradition of interdisciplinary research on development problems in India. Its main objective is to promote research, teaching and training in disciplines relevant to development. Today, it is considered to be one of the foremost development economics research centers in the country.

History

The institute was established in 1971 by the noted economist Professor K. N. Raj.

Academic Programmes

Centre for Development Studies offers M.Phil Programme in Applied Economics and Ph.D. in Economics. The Centre used to conduct a one year course on Population and Sustainable Development in 1990s, which used to be sponsored by UNFPA. Presently the centre offers various other short courses related to development.

Research at CDS is organized into six distinct themes:
*Agriculture and natural resources
*Gender, migration, population
*Health and education
*Poverty, vulnerability and social security
*Industry
*Trade and technology

There is a seventh cross cutting theme, analysing the impact of globalisation on each of the six themes.

The institute has a faculty of about 28. The core activities of the CDS are research, teaching and training.

CDS is affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, for its M Phil Programme in Applied Economics. The Ph D Programme in Economics is affiliated to both Jawaharlal Nehru University and Kerala University.

The Organizational Structure

The core financial support to the Centre comes from the Government of Kerala and the Indian Council of Social Science Research. Reserve Bank of India and the Planning Commission of India have instituted endowment units for research in selected areas at CDS. The Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has established a migration unit at CDS to study issues relating to international migration from India.

The governance of CDS rests with the Governing Body consisting of academicians from across India. It follows a unique style of decentralization in governance through various bodies assisting the Director in the management.

The present chairman of the Governing Body is Professor N.R. Madhava Menon. The current Director is Professor K. Narayanan Nair.

The Campus

CDS located in a quiet residential area in the northwest part of the City of Thiruvananthapuram, called Prasanthnagar. The 10 acre campus, designed and constructed by the famous architect, Dr Laurie Baker, epitomizes his unique style and philosophy of adaptive building methods. The CDS Library is now one of the biggest in South India with over 1,25, 000 titles in Economics and allied disciplines and subscribing to about 400 professional journals.The library is in the process of being automated.

Eminent Faculty

*Professor K. N. Raj
*Professor Amit Bhaduri
*Professor I.S. Gulati
*Professor T.N. Krishnan
*Professor N. Krishnaji
*Professor A. Vaidyanathan, Former Member, Planning Commission of India
*Professor Thomas Isaac - Finance Minister of Kerala

Former Students

*Sanjaya Baru - Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore
*Professor Thomas Isaac - Finance Minister of Kerala
*Dr. C. Rammanohar Reddy - Editor, Economic and Political Weekly
*Rakesh Basanth - Economist, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
*Tirthankar Roy - Economic Historian; London School of Economics

External links

* [http://www.cds.edu CDS Homepage]
* [http://www.krpcds.org Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development]