The federal government will launch a competitive grants programme for policy-oriented research with a budget of Rs. 1.756 billion in order to increase the body of knowledge among the indigenous people and aid policymakers in the development of evidence-based policies.
Most socioeconomic research in Pakistan is currently supported by foreign donors; as a result, it is donor-driven, has its own preferences, and rarely takes into account the complexity of public policy processes at the operational and policy levels.
The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), whose primary responsibility is to advise the Government of Pakistan by conducting policy-oriented research on important economic development and public policy issues, is carrying out the revised project for the competitive grants programme.
However, due to a lack of funding, PIDE is unable to carry out policy research to assist policymakers in the development of evidence-based policies. Large gaps are also created in the local knowledge base, which frequently results in poor decision-making. The monies that PIDE receives from all of the government sources only cover the salaries and other operational expenditures of the organisation; there is no money left over to finance research. As a result, the proposed project will be implemented to fill the financial gap.
Most socioeconomic research that is currently being conducted in Pakistan is donor-funded, donor-driven, and has its own preferences and agenda that do not always align with the needs of the country. It also hardly reflects the complexity of public policy processes at the operational and policy levels.
For the purpose of producing policy-oriented research, the project is split into two streams. First, research proposals on certain themes or topics determined by the Research Advisory Committee will be requested through the Competitive Grants Programme (CGP) (RAC). Second, demand-driven research (DDR) is a proactive, evidence-based approach to research that is used to guide policy-making at the federal and state levels.
In addition to CGP and DDR, Policy Forums (such as those on education, health, public sector management, foreign aid, etc.) and Panels of Experts (such as those on chief economists, practitioners, academicians, etc.) will be established for knowledge exchange and reasoned discussion on critical public policy issues facing Pakistan.
Plan of Work
The project will offer unbiased, policy-relevant studies that will give the broad development goals and plans outlined by Pakistan’s Planning Commission more detail and analysis.
In accordance with the notion of a bottom-up research agenda, study proposals would be requested on the following themes, with the choice of topics and research design being left to the individual researcher.
