NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND PANCHAYATI RAJ

The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) is an Indian autonomous research organisation functioning under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Its main campus is located in Hyderabad, Telangana. Besides this main campus, the institute maintains a north-eastern regional centre in Guwahati, Assam, established to address the needs of North-east India, as well as a regional centre in New Delhi. The institute traces its origins to 1964, when it was formed under the name National Institute of Community Development (NICD), through the merger of the Central Institute of Study and Research in Community Development at Mussoorie and the Trainers Training Institute at Rajpur. Over the years, the institute has faced controversies, including allegations of sexual harassment within its campus, such as a 2018 case involving an assistant professor arrested for molesting a student, and a 2015 case involving an associate professor penalized for abusing a colleague, though the penalty was later deemed unjust by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). The institute has also faced allegations of corruption involving faculty and staff members.