Microstudies can help bridge gap between policy and implementation, says former RBI governor C. Rangarajan

Chairperson of the Madras School of Economics (MSE) and former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor C. Rangarajan on Thursday said microstudies could help policymakers understand the gap between policy design and implementation and improve outcomes in human development programmes.

Speaking at the launch of the books From Field to Policy: Six New Volumes of Microstudies in Human Development at MSE, he said: “It is not enough to say that schools are being opened or teachers are being appointed. What happened to the learning of the students? Did learning actually happen? That is where quality becomes important,” he said.

Mr. Rangarajan said policymakers needed to listen more to experiences from the field while formulating policies. If a programme failed, it was important to determine whether the problem lay in its design or implementation.