Abstract:
This paper attempts to understand the structure and functioning of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad in the context of the changing relationship between the social scientists and the statist enterprise of rural development. The paper does not intend merely to chronicle the range of activities that the NIRD has so far undertaken or is presently engaged in. Rather, the focus is on its role as a mediating agency between the state and a plethora of rural development policies, programmes and projects introduced since independence.
