Introduction

Conduct of policy research in Bangladesh remains ad hoc, uneven and sparse. While the major research institutes do undertake important research and often make "policy suggestions", these frequently are obvious, and ineffective. Even when important findings emerge, these remain unnoticed and ignored due to the lack of an effective dissemination mechanism. At the same time, the research community in Bangladesh has suffered severe capacity erosion as well as capacity dispersal. This has led to a situation where research institutes have failed to set an independent policy research agenda, and have basically been reduced to responding passively to donor-driven “policy reforms”. In addition there is little understanding or insights about the policy-making process in the country or the manner in which the policy agenda is set. Given the above context, BIDS plans to set up a Policy Resource capability to build necessary capacity, conduct demand-driven policy analyses, create strong, organic links with policy makers and the media, and generally act as a resource for analysts, practitioners and policy makers interested in all aspects of development policy.

BIDS Capacity
There are 35 professional researchers in BIDS with most having a PhD in economics or social sciences, spread over five academic 'divisions', including General Economics, Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Physical Infrastructure, Human Resources, and Population Studies. The Centre will draw upon the expertise of staff from all the divisions as needed. Despite BIDS' rich human resources, it is envisaged that there will be a need to bring in specific technical expertise from time to time to (a) build capacity, and (b) to address specific policy questions more rigorously.