J-PAL South Asia

J-PAL South Asia is the South Asia regional office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a global research centre founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to reduce poverty by making sure policy is informed by scientific evidence. Based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, it leads J-PAL's work to advance evidence-informed policymaking in the region. The team runs rigorous randomized evaluations, builds strategic partnerships with governments, and helps scale programmes that have been shown to work. It describes itself as a team of research, policy and capacity building specialists who combine global perspectives with local insights. Its stated core values are integrity, respect, accountability, rigor and care.

Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Major Areas of Work

• Environment and pollution: Research and policy work on reducing air and water pollution and on the links between climate and health.

• Education: Evaluating and scaling learning interventions in government schools, including foundational math programmes.

• Livelihoods and poverty reduction: Working with central and state governments to design and scale inclusive livelihoods and poverty reduction programmes.

• Gender: Research and programmes that address gender-based violence and work to reshape gender norms.

• Capacity building: Training government officials, M&E practitioners, funders and academics to use and generate rigorous evidence.

Major Initiatives and Programmes

• Solutions and Advancements through Research for Water and Air (SARWA): An initiative that supports research and policy work on water and air pollution.

• Alliance for Scaling Policy Impact through Research and Evidence (ASPIRE): An alliance focused on scaling programmes and policies backed by rigorous evidence.

• Solve GBV: An initiative that generates and applies evidence to reduce gender-based violence.

• India Climate and Health Data Capacity Accelerator: A programme that builds data capacity at the intersection of climate and health.

• Samaveshi Aajeevika: A partnership with the Government of India to shape inclusive livelihoods programmes.

• Ganitha-Ganaka: A playful math curriculum scaled with the Government of Karnataka across government schools.

Impact

J-PAL South Asia states that policies informed by its evidence have reached more than 360 million lives in India. It reports reaching more than 116,000 government officials, M&E practitioners, funders and academics through its capacity building offerings, and cites more than 30 partnerships across 20 Indian states. It works with partners including the Government of India, the Government of Karnataka, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, BRAC and The/Nudge Institute.

Working at J-PAL South Asia puts staff close to how research becomes government policy in India. The work combines field research, data analysis, policy engagement and training, often in direct partnership with central and state governments. Staff gain exposure to a global network of more than 1,100 affiliated researchers and to programmes that run at very large scale. It suits people with a background in economics, public policy, research or data who want their work to inform decisions that affect millions of people.