Organiser

The Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) was established in 1972 by Padma Vibhushan Prof V K R V Rao to undertake research and capacity development in social sciences particularly in economics, sociology, political science, education, demography and so on. On January 20, 2022, the Institute for Social and Economic Change completed 50 glorious years of its existence and has celebrated golden jubilee year. ISEC has grown in leaps and bounds in the last 50 years. The Institute has contributed greatly towards the research in social sciences, encompassing diverse aspects of development. ISEC has assisted both central and state governments by undertaking systematic evidence-based studies on resource potential for development, identifying factors influencing growth, inclusive development and examining measures for reducing poverty. The contribution of ISEC to the people of Karnataka, in particular, has been exemplary especially in the formulation of policies for the upliftment of the downtrodden and promoting social cause and also for evaluation of the policies and programs implemented by the Government. In the last 50 years, ISEC has brought out 934 reports on research studies relating to social and economic change for the Indian government and Karnataka government, and multilateral, bilateral and other agencies. The research projects covered the diverse fields of social sciences such as understanding growth processes at the state level, development of agriculture, education, health, decentralization and development, governance, population and development, and so on. In the last 50 years, the faculty members of the institute published 232 books through reputed publishers, published 1334 papers in national and international journals and 654 papers in edited volumes. ISEC played an important role in building human resource potential of the country. It has a rigorous PhD programme which has trained many students in conducting research in social sciences. The unique features of the Ph.D programme at ISEC are biannual seminars, doctoral committees, foundation coursework and so on. The Institute has produced nearly 300 PhDs in the last 50 years. PhD students from the Institute are well placed in the country as well as outside. ISEC has been publishing Journal of Social and Economic Development for the last two-and-half decades – initially on its own and now in collaboration with Springer since 2015. The journal has now assumed international character with papers from over 100 countries published. It is Scopus indexed and has presence in many universities in the world. ISEC has been the think-tank to both Central & State Governments and faculty members from the institute served the Central and State Governments in various policy bodies constituted. In addition, the faculty of the institute also served the government in various capacities such as Members of the Planning Commission, Economic advisors to Chief Minister of Karnataka, members of the State Finance Commissions, expert members of various committees and also in Karnataka Evaluation Authority.