Training Institutes

Institute of Social Change and Development

The Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development (OKDISCD), originally called the Institute for Social Change and Development, came into being on March 30, 1989 in Guwahati under the joint initiatives of the Government of Asom and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, in response to a demand made by some eminent academics of the region to set up a social science research institute in India’s North East for providing empirical and ideational inputs into the region’s development process. Though formally established in 1989, the institute started its actual functioning in June 1992. In 1995, Government of Asom has renamed the Institute after name of Omeo Kumar Das, the first Education Minister of the state and one of the pioneers of social security provisions in the state as a mark of respect in his year of birth centenary. Objectives To undertake, aid, promote and coordinate research on problems and processes of social transformation and development of Assam and other States of North-East India and to contribute to the formulation of strategies and programmes for speedier regional development;To provide academic and professional guidance to agencies, institutions and scholars engaged in social changes and development;To offer, on request, advisory and consultancy services to the Government of India, the Government of Assam and other State Governments of North-East, universities and colleges, and other educational institutions and organisations in business, industry and trade;To act as a clearing house of ideas and information on research in social sciences with special emphasis on the problems of Assam and other States of the North- Eastern region;To document and disseminate the information on culture and socio-economic life of the region;

To collaborate with other agencies, institutions and organisations, including universities, colleges, institutes of management and other institutions in India and abroad in such a manner as may be necessary for the promotion of the objectives of the Institute; To offer fellowships and scholarships, and to organise research methodology courses in furtherance of research in social sciences;To provide programmes of advanced training to teachers of universities and colleges with a view to improving the quality of teaching and research in social sciences and conduct training programmes for government officials;To develop close working relations in teaching and research departments of social sciences of the universities and colleges in the region;To prepare, print and publish reports, monographs, journals, papers and books in furtherance of the objectives of the institute;To arrange lectures by eminent social scientists and personalities from time to time;To organise seminars, conferences, workshops and symposia on socially relevant issues concerning the region; andTo undertake all such activities and programmes as may assist in promoting research in development and social changes in the region.These objectives of the Institute can be achieved by involving qualified young people drawn from different parts of the region.Their intellectual horizon can be continuously widened through participation in research and debates based on their research findings. All this will hopefully pave the way for creating an intellectually vibrant environment as also a base for meaningful dialogue on various issues facing the region.This would also provide for designing appropriate policy framework and strategy for overall development of the region. In this way the Institute, it is hoped, will emerge as a catalytic agent for economic and social transformation of the region.

For further inf. visit:  http://www.okd.in

The Director

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