Context:

• The National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) has been released, presenting India's latest health and nutrition report card.
• The survey data — collected during 2023-24 — reveals a mixed picture: measurable gains in healthcare access and child immunisation, but persistent failures in feeding practices, diet quality, and child nutrition outcomes.
• In this context, this article argues that better healthcare alone cannot solve India's deep nutrition challenge.

What NFHS-6 Shows: The Gains

• Stunting (children under 5) - 35.5% (NFHS-5); 29.3% ↓ (NFHS-6)
• Wasting (weight-for-height) - No significant change (NFHS-5); Slight improvement only in severe wasting (NFHS-6)
• Stunting reflects long periods of sub-optimal food intake combined with other deprivations.
• Any decline is welcome given the complexity of factors involved — women's access to resources, water and sanitation, and diet quality.
• Improvements in Healthcare Access
  • Institutional births: Reached 90%, with public facilities accounting for 58% of births.
  • Skilled birth attendance: 91% of deliveries attended by trained medical personnel.
  • Antenatal care: 95% of mothers received at least one health personnel visit during pregnancy.
  • Full vaccination (12–23 months): 87% of children are fully vaccinated — a strong performance driven primarily by frontline workers (ASHA, AWW, ANM), with private facilities accounting for only 3% of vaccinations.
• These gains are directly attributed to better healthcare access, immunisation coverage, maternal education, and improvements in housing, water and sanitation.

Where Progress Stalls: Feeding Practices

• Despite strong healthcare metrics, feeding practices remain the weakest link in India's nutrition chain.
  • Only 50% of newborns are breastfed within the first hour of birth — despite 90% institutional deliveries
  • Only 60% of children aged 6–8 months receive solid or semi-solid food on time
  • Only 15% of children aged 6–23 months receive an adequate diet
• This disconnect — strong healthcare access but poor feeding outcomes — is the central paradox of NFHS-6.
• The First 1,000 Days: The Critical Window
  • The period from pregnancy to a child's second birthday (first 1,000 days) is the most critical for physical and cognitive development. Most brain growth occurs in the first five years.
  • Stunting typically peaks during the second year of life and growth faltering often begins much earlier.
  • Yet NFHS-6 does not provide disaggregated data for the 0–2 age group — a significant data gap.
• The Annaprasana Link
  • In India, complementary feeding is culturally tied to the annaprasana ritual (first solid food ceremony), typically performed between 6–12 months.
  • Any delay in this ritual directly translates into growth faltering. Behaviour change programmes must integrate such cultural practices rather than work around them.

The Processed Food Trap

• Consumer expenditure data reveals a worrying dietary shift:
  • Households are spending less on cereals and more on dairy, processed foods, and beverages. This creates an illusion of dietary diversity without nutritional adequacy.
  • A genuinely nutritious diet — pulses, millets, fruits, vegetables, animal foods, nuts — following ICMR-NIN dietary guidelines — is unaffordable for a large section of the population.
  • Processed foods, by contrast, are cheap, packaged in small affordable units, and easily available.
• This is the nutrition transition trap — households moving away from traditional staples toward energy-dense but nutrient-poor processed foods.

The Hidden Factor: Maternal Time Poverty

• A critically under-examined driver of poor child feeding is maternal time poverty.
  • NFHS-6 reports ~30% of women in paid work — but this significantly underestimates the true work burden.
  • A large share of women in informal economies engage in unpaid labour — farming, livestock, domestic chores.
  • There is no reliable data on what proportion of mothers with children aged 6–23 months are in the workforce.
• In rural areas, in the absence of crèches, women leave infants with older family members or older siblings — most often girls — when working in fields, directly impacting breastfeeding and complementary feeding

What Needs to Be Done: Key Recommendations

• Strengthen Frontline Workers
  • AWWs collect monthly anthropometric data on children — their data quality skills must be improved.
  • Collected data should be analysed locally and feedback given to ASHAs and AWWs for timely action.
  • Recruit a nutritionist and data analyst at district level to enable this.
• Use Digital Tools
  • Supplement in-person counselling with digital tools providing practical feeding guidance to frontline workers and mothers, based on locally available, affordable foods.
• Behaviour Change Communication
  • Must be culturally grounded — integrate the annaprasana tradition to reinforce timely complementary feeding.
  • Joint capacity building of ASHAs, AWWs, and ANMs in assessing feeding practices and counselling families.
• Multisectoral Convergence
  • Child nutrition must be a standing agenda item in Gram Sabha and Panchayat meetings.
  • Local planning must prioritise Anganwadi infrastructure, safe water, and sanitation.
  • POSHAN Abhiyaan currently focuses on rehabilitation of severely malnourished children — greater emphasis must shift to prevention of growth faltering through early identification.
• Crèches as Social Infrastructure
  • Crèches are not merely childcare facilities — they are social infrastructure that enables women's economic participation and reduces unpaid care burdens.
  • Many NGOs have developed crèche models combining childcare, nutrition and early learning — these must be scaled up.
• Engage Men in Childcare
  • Promoting shared domestic responsibilities and engaging men in childcare can significantly improve feeding and caregiving outcomes.

Conclusion

• NFHS-6 tells a tale of two Indias — one where children are being born in hospitals and vaccinated on schedule, and another where half of them are not being fed adequately in their most critical developmental window.
• Better healthcare brought us this far; only better food systems, empowered mothers, and convergent community action can take us further.

Why in the News?

• Recent analyses and World Bank projections have highlighted how climate change is increasingly contributing to higher household expenses through rising food, energy, water, and healthcare costs in India.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Climate Change (Cost of Living, Impact on Food Prices, Energy Costs, Water Scarcity, Health Expenditure, Economic Implications for India, etc.)

Climate Change and Cost of Living

• Climate change is often discussed as a long-term environmental challenge. However, its effects are already being felt through higher living costs.
• Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, extreme weather events, and increasing climate variability are affecting essential services and commodities that households depend upon every day.
• The World Bank has warned that rising temperatures and changing monsoon patterns could reduce India's GDP by up to 2.8% by 2050 and adversely affect living standards for nearly half of the country's population.
• Climate change therefore, represents not only an environmental challenge but also an emerging economic and social issue.

Impact on Food Prices

• Agriculture remains highly dependent on weather conditions, making food prices particularly vulnerable to climate shocks.
• A delayed or weak monsoon can reduce crop yields, disrupt sowing activities, and lower agricultural output. Similarly, extreme heat can damage crops even when rainfall remains adequate.
• In 2023, India experienced a 6% rainfall deficit, which reduced the sown area under pulses and oilseeds.
• Farmers in several states reported crop losses, while retail prices of rice, wheat, and pulses increased by 6-15% year-on-year by early October.
• This is particularly significant because food and beverages account for 45.86% of India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket.
• Consequently, climate-induced disruptions quickly translate into higher food inflation and increased household expenditure.
• Repeated heatwaves, floods, and erratic rainfall patterns are also contributing to persistent food inflation by creating supply bottlenecks and market uncertainty.

Impact on Energy Costs

• Climate change is also increasing household energy expenditure.
• As temperatures rise, demand for cooling appliances such as fans, coolers, and air conditioners grows rapidly.
• This places additional pressure on electricity grids and increases power generation costs.
• During the May 2026 heatwave, India's electricity demand reached a record 270.8 gigawatts, driven largely by cooling requirements. Utilities often meet this surge through expensive coal-based generation and imported fuels, costs that may eventually be passed on to consumers through higher tariffs and surcharges.
• For low-income households, rising electricity bills often result in reduced spending on other essential needs such as food and education.

Impact on Water Security

• Water is emerging as another major channel through which climate change affects household finances.
• Erratic rainfall patterns and groundwater depletion are causing wells and local water sources to dry up more frequently in several regions. As a result, rural households often spend more time and money securing water.
• Urban areas are witnessing the growth of a parallel "tanker economy", where households without reliable municipal water supplies purchase water from private vendors. This significantly increases monthly household expenditure.
• The burden is particularly severe for vulnerable communities living in informal settlements and water-stressed regions.

Impact on Health Expenditure

• Climate change is also increasing healthcare costs.
• Heat stress, poor air quality, changing disease patterns, and climate-sensitive illnesses are contributing to higher out-of-pocket medical expenditures.
• Rural women often bear a disproportionate burden because they spend longer hours collecting water, working under extreme temperatures, and caring for family members affected by climate-related illnesses.
• For households living close to the poverty line, even minor increases in healthcare expenditure can significantly affect financial stability and consumption patterns.

Climate Change and Inequality

• The economic burden of climate change is not distributed equally.
• According to studies cited in the analysis, marginalised communities often have lower access to climate-adaptation technologies such as irrigation systems and resilient farming practices. Consequently, they face greater vulnerability to climate shocks.
• States such as Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra are projected to witness significant declines in living standards because of their high climate vulnerability and dependence on agriculture.
• As a result, climate change increasingly functions like a regressive economic burden, disproportionately affecting those who possess the fewest resources to adapt.

Economic Implications for India

• The long-term implications extend beyond household budgets.
• The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) has noted that a large section of India's population remains vulnerable to even small economic shocks despite improvements in incomes over recent decades. Climate change is making such shocks more frequent and persistent.
• If climate-related disruptions continue to intensify, they could lead to:

• Higher inflation
• Reduced agricultural productivity
• Increased health expenditure
• Greater rural distress
• Slower economic growth

• These outcomes could undermine progress toward inclusive and sustainable development.

Way Forward

• Addressing climate change requires moving beyond short-term crisis management.
• Policy priorities should include:

• Promoting climate-resilient agriculture, including initiatives such as Andhra Pradesh Community Natural Farming (APCNF)
• Strengthening urban heat action plans
• Improving water conservation and groundwater management
• Expanding affordable healthcare and social protection systems
• Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and public services

• Recognising climate change as a cost-of-living issue can help integrate adaptation measures into broader economic policymaking.

Context:

• India’s economy and society have transformed over the last 12 years under the leadership of the current Prime Minister (PM) of India.
• Over these years, employment generation, youth empowerment, social security expansion, and the launch of the PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PMVBRY) acted as key pillars of India's journey towards Viksit Bharat (Developed India).

India’s Transformation - From Fragile Economy to Growth Engine:

• Over the past decade, India has evolved from being grouped among the “Fragile Five” economies in 2013 to becoming the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
• The country has emerged as a global leader in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), startup ecosystem development, innovation and technology adoption, and global economic and diplomatic influence.
• This transformation has been supported by a governance model centred on empowerment, inclusion, and economic opportunity.

Youth as the Driver of Growth:

• Recognising the importance of its demographic dividend, the government launched several flagship initiatives aimed at enhancing employability and entrepreneurship.
• Key initiatives are Make in India, Digital India, Startup India, Skill India, PM Mudra Yojana, and National Career Service (NCS) Portal.
• These programmes, coupled with investments in infrastructure and technology, have expanded opportunities for:
  • Employment generation
  • Skill development
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Formalisation of the economy

Employment Growth - Key Trends:

• Rising employment elasticity:
  • Employment elasticity measures the responsiveness of employment to economic growth.
  • For example, in the period of 2011-12 to 2017-18, it was 0.008, while for 2017-18 to 2023-24, it was 1.11.
  • This implies that a 1% increase in Gross Value Added (GVA) generated a 1.11% rise in employment, indicating stronger job creation alongside economic growth.
• Employment indicators:
  • According to RBI KLEMS data,
    • Over 17 crore jobs were created between 2014 and 2024. In comparison, around 2.9 crore jobs were created between 2004 and 2014.
    • The employment rate increased from 46.8% (2017-18) to 57.4% (2025).
    • The unemployment rate declined to around 3.1%, below the global average of 4.8%.
    • EPFO payroll data indicate addition of over 8 crore formal-sector jobs between 2017 and 2025.
  • These trends are presented as evidence of expanding labour-market opportunities and increasing formalisation.

Expansion of Social Security Coverage:

• A major dimension of India's development journey has been the expansion of social protection.
• Growth in social security coverage:
  • 2015: 25 crore people covered (19% of population).
  • 2025: More than 94 crore people covered (64.3% of population).
  • This substantial increase reflects efforts to extend welfare benefits and social-security protection to larger sections of society.
• Global recognition: India received the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Social Security (2025), recognising progress in expanding social-security coverage.

Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PMVBRY):

• About: Introduced (1 August 2025) in the first Budget of the present government's third term with a financial outlay of nearly ₹1 lakh crore, PMVBRY is projected as one of India's largest employment-generation initiatives.
• Employment target: Creation of more than 3.5 crore employment opportunities over two years.
• Key features:
  • Part A (Support for first-time employees): Financial assistance of up to ₹15,000 disbursed in two instalments.
  • Part B (Incentives for employers):
    • Up to ₹3,000 per employee per month applicable for each additional worker hired.
    • Incentives available: Up to 4 years for manufacturing sector employers. Up to 2 years for employers in other sectors.
• Expected benefits:
• Encourages workforce participation, reduces hiring costs for employers, and supports industrial growth through employment-linked incentives.
• Enhances income security for workers and families, and strengthens the virtuous cycle of production, employment, and consumption.
• Implementation and outreach:
  • To mark the implementation of PMVBRY, incentives worth ₹2,400 crore are being disbursed through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to approximately 15 lakh beneficiaries.
  • Events, distributing appointment letters to beneficiaries, recognising employers generating employment opportunities, are being organised across 200 major industrial clusters.

Towards Viksit Bharat 2047:

• As India approaches the centenary of Independence in 2047, the country’s greatest asset is its young population.
• The government views both employees and employers as equal partners in nation-building, seeking to balance worker welfare with enterprise growth.
• The broader vision of Viksit Bharat rests on:
  • Employment-led growth
  • Skill development
  • Entrepreneurship promotion
  • Social-security expansion
  • Formalisation of the workforce
  • Inclusive economic development

Conclusion:

• India's development trajectory is a combination of economic reforms, youth empowerment, employment generation, and social protection.
• Schemes such as PMVBRY seek to strengthen the relationship between labour and industry, positioning employees and employers as the twin engines driving India’s journey towards a prosperous, inclusive, and developed nation by 2047.

Context

• International trade negotiations have traditionally been judged by reductions in tariff rates and customs duties, however, the structure of global trade has evolved significantly.
• While tariffs remain politically visible, the most important determinants of market access today are Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) such as technical regulations, quality standards, licensing requirements, and testing procedures.
• As economies become increasingly interconnected, addressing NTBs has become more critical than merely reducing tariffs.

Understanding NTBs

• What are NTBs?
  • They refers to regulations and procedures that goods must satisfy before entering a foreign market.
  • These include:
    • Technical standards
    • Health and safety regulations
    • Environmental requirements
    • Product certification
    • Packaging and labeling norms
    • Licensing and approval procedures
  • Unlike tariffs, which are transparent and measurable, NTBs operate through regulatory systems and often increase compliance costs for exporters.
• Growing Importance of NTBs
  • Since the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, global tariff rates have fallen considerably.
  • However, governments have increasingly relied on NTBs to regulate trade. Today, NTBs affect nearly 90% of global trade, while thousands of new regulatory measures are introduced every year.
  • As a result, exporters face a complex web of compliance requirements that often restrict market access more effectively than tariffs.

NTBs as Instruments of Economic Power

• The European Union's Regulatory Framework
  • The European Union (EU) has developed one of the world's most extensive regulatory systems. Its trade policies rely heavily on:
    • Environmental regulations
    • Chemical safety standards
    • Product conformity requirements
    • Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
    • EU Deforestation Regulation
  • Although designed to promote sustainability and consumer protection, these measures also function as powerful filters for imports.
• The United States' Strategic Approach
  • The United States increasingly employs NTBs to advance strategic and security interests. Key instruments include:
    • Export controls
    • Technology restrictions
    • Semiconductor regulations
    • Advanced computing and AI controls
  • These measures influence global supply chains and restrict access to critical technologies.
• India's Evolving Trade Strategy
  • India has traditionally relied on tariffs for trade protection. However, recent industrial policies indicate a shift toward:
    • Quality Control Orders (QCOs)
    • Product standards
    • Import regulations
    • Domestic manufacturing support measures
  • This reflects India's growing recognition of the importance of regulatory tools in international trade.

India's Experience with Free Trade Agreements

• Challenges in Existing FTAs
  • India's experience demonstrates that tariff reductions alone do not guarantee increased trade.
  • Despite Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with ASEAN, Japan, and South Korea, exporters continue to face significant regulatory barriers. Examples include:
    • Lengthy pharmaceutical approval processes in Japan.
    • Complex registration requirements in ASEAN countries.
    • Restrictive customs procedures affecting Indian exports.
  • Consequently, India's FTA utilisation rate remains significantly lower than that of many developed economies.
• Impact on Trade Competitiveness
  • These barriers increase transaction costs, delay market entry, and reduce the practical benefits of tariff concessions.
  • As a result, agreements that appear successful on paper often fail to generate their full economic potential.

Emerging Solutions: The New Generation of Trade Agreements

• India-UAE CEPA
  • The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE incorporates measures such as:
    • Mutual recognition of standards
    • Acceptance of international testing and certification
    • Reduced duplication of compliance procedures
  • These provisions lower costs and improve market access for businesses.
• India-EFTA TEPA
  • The Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) goes further by including:
    • Mutual recognition agreements
    • Streamlined conformity assessments
    • Institutional mechanisms to address NTBs
    • Legally binding commitments on regulatory cooperation
  • Such provisions represent a significant shift toward addressing the real barriers to trade.

Key Themes and Significance

• Transformation of Global Trade
  • The focus of international trade has shifted from tariff reduction to regulatory governance.
  • Compliance with standards and regulations now determines competitiveness in global markets.
• Hidden Protectionism
  • While many NTBs serve legitimate purposes such as consumer protection, public health, and environmental sustainability, they can also function as indirect forms of protectionism by limiting foreign competition.
• Regulatory Power and Influence
  • Modern trade relationships are increasingly shaped by those who establish global standards.
  • Regulatory frameworks have become instruments of economic influence and strategic leverage.

Conclusion

• While tariffs continue to dominate political discussions, Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) have become the primary determinants of market access and competitiveness.
• For India and other emerging economies, future trade success depends not merely on securing lower tariffs but on achieving greater regulatory cooperation, transparency, mutual recognition of standards, and reduction of unnecessary compliance burdens.
• In the twenty-first century, overcoming regulatory barriers is the key to unlocking the full potential of international trade.

About Mombasa Declaration:

• It was adopted by 15 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific to step up efforts to combat illegal fishing.
• It calls on governments to improve access to information on fishing vessels, ownership, and licensing, and to strengthen data sharing to better track fishing activities and enforce regulations.
• It is named after the Kenyan city hosting the 11th Our Ocean Conference (OOC).
• Out of the more than 30 countries represented in the summit, Belgium, Cameroon, Chile, the Dominican Republic, France, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and South Korea signed the agreement.
• It is intended to curb illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, also known as IUU fishing, which threatens marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fisheries.
• The declaration builds support for the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency, a set of 10 policy principles aimed at improving governance through low-cost reforms, including modernizing vessel registries and publishing fishing authorizations.

Key Facts about Our Ocean Conference (OOC):

• Launched in 2014 by the U.S. Department of State and former Secretary of State John Kerry, the OOC is a major international platform that unites governments, businesses, NGOs, and academic institutions to drive ocean-related action and ambition.
• The conference focuses on six critical areas:
  • Marine protected areas.
  • Sustainable blue economy
  • Climate change
  • Maritime security
  • Sustainable fisheries
  • Marine pollution.
• 2026 OCC: Mombasa (Kenya) - Marking the first time the global summit was held on African soil, themed "Our Ocean, Our Heritage, Our Future"

About World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought:

• It is observed annually on June 17 to spread awareness about international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought.
• History:
  • Desertification was identified as one of the greatest challenges to sustainable development during the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
  • In 1994, the UN General Assembly established the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
  • This legally binding international agreement linked the environment and development to sustainable land management.
  • In addition to the UNCCD, the UN proclaimed June 17 as World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
• In 2026, the theme “Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore.” highlights the importance of rangelands—ecosystems that have long been undervalued despite their critical role.
• This year’s observance also aligns with the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.

What are Rangelands?

• Rangelands are expansive natural areas primarily characterized by native vegetation like grasses, shrubs, and forbs.
• Covering about 50% of the Earth's land surface, they play a vital role in supporting livestock, wildlife, and diverse ecosystems.
• These lands are not typically suitable for intensive agriculture due to limitations such as low precipitation and poor soil quality.
• Rangelands provide essential resources, including recreational opportunities and habitats for various animal species, while also serving as watersheds and mining locations.
• The dynamic nature of rangelands is influenced by numerous factors, including climate changes, grazing practices, and human encroachment.
• Rangelands store vast amounts of carbon and either originate or serve as freshwater catchment areas for most of the world’s largest rivers and wetlands.
• They support the lives of around two billion people worldwide, including many pastoralists and Indigenous Peoples whose knowledge and stewardship have sustained these landscapes for generations.
• Rangelands provide almost 70 per cent of livestock feed globally, making them critical to food systems.
• Indian rangelands occupy about 121 million hectares, from the Thar Desert to the alpine meadows in the Himalayas.
• According to the UNCCD ‘Global Land Outlook Thematic Report’, the area used for grazing is estimated at around 40 per cent of the total land surface of India, including grasslands (17 per cent), and forests (23 per cent).
• Around 70 per cent of rangelands are in the temperate region, however, a large share is considered underutilised, including degraded forest lands, land unsuitable for crop production, ravines, and wastelands.

International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists:

• The United Nations has declared 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
• Led by Mongolia and supported by a broad coalition of organisations, this initiative aims to raise awareness, encourage responsible investments and shape policies that safeguard rangelands and pastoralist livelihoods.
• Present in more than 75 percent of countries and managing at least one quarter of the world’s land, pastoralists herd about one billion animals worldwide.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD):

• It is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
• It was set up to address desertification and the effects of drought.
• Adopted on June 17, 1994, it entered into force on December 26, 1996 after the 50th ratification was received.
• The UNCCD is one of the three Rio Conventions—along with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—and was called for in Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, or Earth Summit).
• There are 197 Parties to the Convention, including 196 country Parties and the European Union.
• It works together to improve the living conditions for people in drylands, to maintain and restore land and soil productivity, and to mitigate the effects of drought.
• Parties to the Convention meet in Conferences of the Parties (COP) every two years, as well as in technical meetings throughout the year.
• The UNCCD permanent secretariat is located in Bonn, Germany.

National reporting:

• The UNCCD’s success relies on reliable, up-to-date information on drought, desertification and land degradation.
• Every 4 years, parties must report on the actions they have undertaken to implement the convention.

About India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM):

• It was established in 2011 by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to serve as a premier global centre for electoral training, research, and capacity building.
• It functions under the direct supervision of the ECI and operates from its independent campus in Dwarka, New Delhi.
• In pursuance of its vision and mission, the key functions of IIIDEM are:
  • To promote and lay down standards for professional competence in election management
  • To innovate electoral processes to promote electoral integrity and ease of voting
  • To encourage and promote research and knowledge development
  • To develop training, academic, and capacity-building programs
  • To enrich democratic systems, values, and practices
  • To promote international cooperation and global engagements
• IIIDEM aims to achieve its vision and mission by following a strategy based on four key strategic pillars:
  • Strengthen National Programs
  • Expand Global Programs and Engagements
  • Encourage Research and Knowledge Development
  • Promote Sustainable Democracy and Election Management
• It holds domestic and international courses and training programmes that are residential and non-residential.
• IIIDEM collaborates and partners with various national and international organizations like the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) on various aspects of democracy and election management.
• Through MoUs, bilateral engagements, international conferences, exposure visits, and customized capacity-building programs, IIIDEM fosters global cooperation.
• Flagship initiatives include the International Election Visitors’ Programme (IEVP) and the Master’s Programme in International Electoral Management and Practices (MIEMP) in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.