On October 31, 2019 the govt. of Odisha has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with laureates of 2019 Nobel prize in economics, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). The MoU would work on areas to eradicate poverty, women’s empowerment, distress migration, health worker performance and also in improving agricultural productivity.
The agreement was signed by Development Commissioner of Odisha, Suresh Mohapatra and executive director of J-PAL South Asia, Shobhini Mukherji.
i.This is first such partnership of J-PAL with an Indian state after the duo (Abhijit and Esther) won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences (Nobel prize) 2019. With this MoU, which is part of 5T (Transparency, Technology, Teamwork, Transformation and Time) initiative of Odisha, the state govt. will maximise the impact of various anti-poverty programmes in the state.
ii.As part of the partnership, J-PAL South Asia and the Odisha government will conduct annual policy dialogue to identify the government’s top policy priorities and conduct discussions to jointly come up with innovative solutions.
iii.Previously in September 2019, J-PAL partnered with National Health Mission(NHM) of Haryana Government to improve the state’s health outcomes through better programme implementation.
About J-PAL:
- Founded- June 2003.
- Headquarters- Massachusetts, US.
- Founders: Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee and Sendhil Mullainathan.
