Silent shutdown of rural futures in Telangana

Zubeda Begum, a physically challenged woman who established ‘Divyang Solar Society’ in 2016 that assembles portable solar lights.
| Photo Credit:
MOHD. ARIF

For Zubeda, it was the turning point. The Rural Technology Park (RTP) training at NIRD&PR not only transformed her career but set her on the path to entrepreneurship. In 2016, she and her team established ‘Divyang Solar Society’, assembling portable solar lights.

“There was no looking back. Under RTP’s guidance, we began to diversity our activities and in 2018, started a garment-making unit with state-of-the-art stitching machinery, financed by a ₹25 lakh bank loan,” she says.

Today, the firm supplies uniforms to government and private schools, empowering 10 differently-abled entrepreneurs in the process. Zubeda is just one among hundreds whose lives were reshaped by NIRD&PR’s training programmes.

But ironically, the very institution that helped so many now faces an uncertain future.

In a stunning budgetary blow, the Centre has slashed NIRD&PR’s allocation for 2025-26 to a mere ₹1 lakh, down from ₹73.68 crore in the revised estimates for 2024-25 and ₹75.69 crore in 2023-24.

Established in 1958, NIRD&PR has been instrumental in shaping rural development policies, strengthening Panchayat Raj institutions, and training rural development professionals. It collaborates with 29 State Institutes of Rural Development (SIRDs) and 90 extension centres across the country.

Now, the decision to practically disband it has come as a shock, leaving 221 regular employees, 410 contractual staff, and 300 pensioners staring at uncertainty.

The seeds of this crisis were sown in 2016 when then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a task force for rationalising human resources across ministries.

The fate of NIRD&PR was sealed long before the recent Budget cut. In 2017, NITI Aayog constituted a panel under former bureaucrat Ratan P. Watal to review 231 autonomous bodies across 23 Central ministries. By 2018, the panel had submitted its recommendations.

A year later, the committee proposed retention of 83 institutions, merging 117 into 29, disengaging 20, and shutting down seven. NIRD&PR landed in the ‘disengaged’ category, not for underperformance, but despite being deemed “satisfactory”. The panel suggested converting it into a Centre of Excellence or a Deemed University engaged in training and research with “gradual budget reduction of 25% per year in three years.”

K.Shivaramakrishna Chary of ‘Deerghaayush Organic Products’ busy with cow dung painting at the facility in RTP.
| Photo Credit:
NAGARA GOPAL

The Ministry of Rural Development agreed to the disengagement, charting a 10-year transition plan with a one-time lump sum grant to make NIRD&PR fully autonomous, say official sources.

Rajesh Kumar Sinha, general secretary of the Academic Association and assistant professor at the Centre for Social Audit, says there was no consultation with the faculty and only administrative staff were involved. “Even the Administrative Staff College of India, engaged to look into the possibility of self-reliance, had prepared a report without consulting the faculty or staff,” he claims. In response, the association took matters into its own hands, preparing an independent report and submitting it to the ministry.

Staff and beneficiaries at risk

The sudden withdrawal of financial support hasn’t just put NIRD&PR at risk — it has also left its beneficiaries in the lurch. Among them is 45-year-old Reddipally Sujata, a postgraduate in Chemistry from Anantasagar in Sangareddy district, who credits the institute’s training for her entrepreneurial success in organic farming.

“When my husband relocated from New Delhi, I wanted to start a micro-enterprise. That’s when I came across a small advertisement for vermicompost training at NIRD&PR,” she says.

In 2019, she learned the intricacies of the trade, and by 2020, she had set up Goverdhan Organics in Miyapur, producing vermicompost and neem powder, Sujatha explains.

What began as a small venture has now expanded to a three-acre enterprise in Marepally, supplying organic fertilizers to clients across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. “None of this would have been possible without the guidance of NIRD&PR faculty,” she says, acknowledging that the institution helped shape her journey. K. Shivaramakrishna Chary from Kistapur in Parigi mandal of Vikarabad district, found his calling in an unexpected place. A routine educational trip to NIRDPR in 2014, when he was in his third year of B.Sc Agriculture, sparked a deep interest in the institute’s training programmes. That spark eventually led him to launch ‘Deerghaayush’, a startup dedicated to supporting farmers with affordable natural farming technologies and cost-effective organic decoctions.

“I underwent 35 training courses and earned 15 certificates from here to build my career,” he points out. For 32-year-old Jayyarapu Ramesh, a social audit state resource person in Telangana’s Panchayat Raj and Rural Development department, NIRD&PR’s training was just as transformative. A native of Bhavsinghpalli in Chityala mandal, Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, Ramesh recalls how a one-month course on social accountability and auditing gave him the expertise to oversee the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). His training has since helped ensure proper checks and asset creation for wage earners.

But success stories like theirs may soon be a thing of the past. With funding abruptly withdrawn, NIRD&PR’s operations, workforce and larger mission are now in jeopardy.

Students being trained in beekeeping at The Rural Technology Park of National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit:
NAGARA GOPAL

“We were the think-tank and apex capacity-building organisation for the Central government in rural development, working at every level from village to State,” says C. Kathiresan, joint secretary of the Academic Association and head of the Centre for Research and Training Coordination and Networking. Forum for Good Governance President M. Padmanabha Reddy echoes the concerns, calling the budget cuts a mockery. “Instead of disengaging, the government should be expanding the institute’s reach. Institutions like this should not be tampered with. Their expertise and success stories should be amplified, not erased,” he notes. Former IAS officer Akunuri Murali, who once led Telangana’s Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty, says he is appalled by the proposed “disengagement” of NIRD&PR.

“The core mandate of the Rural Development Ministry is poverty reduction, and that is exactly what the NIRD&PR has been doing for decades,” says Murali, who is now heading the Telangana Education Commission.

He warns that the move will effectively ‘kill’ a premier institution that has played a crucial role in grassroots development. Murali also accuses the Union government of systematically dismantling rural poverty alleviation programmes.

Association protest

Protests by the institute’s academic association have barely registered on the radar of decision-makers. With the writing on the wall, existing staff fear for their livelihoods, while retired personnel worry about their pensions and benefits.

There is no official word yet on what lies ahead for NIRD&PR’s employees as calls to NIRD&PR director-general Narendra Kumar went unanswered. Sources say the Union government has yet to provide a concrete action plan. What is clear, however, is that the Ministry plans to treat NIRD&PR as a mere “client” for its training needs.

“All training programs will now be fee-based. To sustain itself, NIRD&PR would need to conduct an unprecedented number of training sessions from April 2025 to cover the salaries of 221 employees and pensions for 331 retirees. But this is neither practical nor achievable,” says an insider, adding that both the institute management and the Ministry remain silent on future plans.

Adding to the uncertainty is the fate of NIRD&PR’s sprawling campus and infrastructure. The assets remain with the institute, but no decision has been made on repurposing them or offering staff members a transfer or severance package. Discussions on these matters, sources say, have not even begun.

“For an institution that has transformed countless lives, this slow, quiet dismantling feels like a tragic and undeserved end,” says a source close to the institute.