Hyderabad’s NIRDPR faces closure amid zero budget allocation
HYDERABAD: The future of the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj is under a cloud after the Centre made no budgetary allocation to the institute for the second consecutive year, pushing it deeper into a financial crisis.
Second year without central funds
Officials said the absence of funds in the latest Union Budget has worsened operational and administrative problems, raising concerns over the institute’s survival.
Due to the fund crunch, pensions and medical reimbursements for nearly 300 retirees have remained unpaid since April last year. About 120 outsourced employees were removed, the strength of security staff was cut by a third, and the number of official vehicles reduced. Lack of funds has also affected maintenance of buildings and residential quarters.
Salary payments at risk
With no allocation in the current budget as well, the institute is unlikely to pay salaries from April. Officials warned that if the Centre does not intervene, closure of the institute may become inevitable.
The faculty strength has fallen sharply, with only 38 professors in position against a sanctioned strength of 116, limiting the institute’s ability to undertake training projects.
Centre yet to act on recommendations
The Centre had announced in October last year that it could not extend support to NIRDPR and proposed converting it into a deemed university or a centre of excellence, but no follow-up action has been taken.
A parliamentary standing committee that visited the institute last year recommended its continuation and revival, but the suggestions were not acted upon. Officials said the institute has a corpus of about ₹500 crore but lacks approval to utilise it.
Until 2024–25, the Centre provided an annual grant of ₹78 crore to the institute, which trains around 2,000 officials every year. The grant was fully withdrawn from 2025–26, affecting salary payments to 631 employees, including officers, professors and staff.
Following protests by employees, the Centre had directed the institute to generate revenue by conducting training programmes for other organisations. A daily training fee of ₹8,600 per participant was fixed, but government departments showed limited interest. Despite repeated requests over the past year, permission to implement alternative revenue measures has not been granted.
Amid the continuing crisis, the Centre recently transferred director Narendra Kumar and gave additional charge to T K Anil Kumar, additional secretary in the Union rural development ministry. Officials said uncertainty also surrounds the appointment of a regular director-general.
