Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics


Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, commonly known as Gokhale Institute, is one of the oldest research and training institutes in Economics in India.

History

The Institute was founded on 6 June 1930 by R. R. Kale as a centre for research and higher learning in economics. The Institute was founded with an endowment offered to the Servants of India Society by Shri R R Kale. The Servants of India Society, a registered body founded by the nationalist leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale, are the trustees of the Institute. The Institute is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950.
The Institute was set up with an objective to conduct research on the economic and political problems of India and to train research workers in these disciplines. D. R. Gadgil was the first Director of the Institute.

Research

The major research areas of the Institute, developed over the years through financial assistance from various sources, are: Agricultural Economics, Population Studies, Economic History, Input-output analysis for planning and development, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Monetary economics, Financial Economics, Public Economics, International Economics and the study of economics of East European countries.
In the early years, the research activities were financed through assistance from various ministries and public funding agencies including the Government of Maharashtra and private foundations like the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. In 1954, the Union Ministry of Food and Agriculture established the Agro-Economic Research Centre of the Institute. During the early fifties, the Rockefeller Foundation made a substantial grant, spread over years, for the conduct of a research programme in rural demography. The Union Ministry of Health also gave grants for conducting some specific demographic studies in 1954-57; and in 1964, the Ministry decided to strengthen and expand the research work on population by financing on a continuing basis a Population Research Centre as an integral part of the Institute. Ford Foundation gave a very generous financial assistance for more than a decade beginning with the year 1956. Later on, the Ford Foundation, in co-operation with the Planning Commission, provided a separate grant for research and training in the areas of planning and development, mainly devoted to input-output studies. In 1962, the University Grants Commission recognised the Institute as a Centre of Advanced Study in Agricultural Economics to start with and later, in 1964, as a Centre of Advanced Study in Economics. In 1977, the UGC, as a part of its Area Studies Programme, established at the Institute a Centre of Study of Economics of East European Countries. In the same year, the Reserve Bank of India instituted a Chair in Finance at the Institute.

Teaching

Although GIPE was primarily a research institute, it was recognized as an institution for higher learning in the field of economics, and it awarded MA, MPhil and PhD degrees in Economics under recognition from the University of Bombay from 1930 to 1949. With the establishment of the University of Pune in 1949, GIPE became a constituent recognized institution of the University of Pune until 1993. Keeping in view its professional standing and scope for further development, the Government of India, on recommendation of the University Grants Commission, declared GIPE as ‘Deemed University’ from 9 May 1993.

Academic Programmes

The goal of the Institute —to conduct research into the Economic and Political problems of India and train research workers in these subjects— has been reconceptualised over years so as to confine the activities of the Institute to teaching and research in Economics alone, leaving aside the political problems of India. However, the applied and empirical research into Indian economic problems and policy evaluations indirectly encompass the political dimensions as well.
The curricular content of the ongoing MSc Economics Programme offers a blend of core and applied optional courses. The number of subjects per course have been increased from 16 in the MA Programme to 20 in the ongoing MSc Programme so as to make the courses more rigorous. The student-faculty ratio is 3:1 for the MSc Programme.

Ph.D. Programme

The PhD Programme, started right from the inception of the Institute, still continues with a highly selective intake and hence a limited output. More than 165 students have obtained their doctoral degrees in different branches of Economics since the inception of the Institute.

M.Sc. Programmes

GIPE offers nationally recognised two-year M.Sc. Programmes in Economics, Financial Economics, Agri-Business Economics and International Business Economics & Finance. Students for each of these Programmes are selected through a rigorous nationwide entrance exam that test their analytical, reasoning and quantitative skills. The courses offered at GIPE are unique in a sense that they blend crucial theories and their practical applications helping the students to get industry ready. Details of the courses are as follows:

M.Sc. (Economics)

The programme is designed to develop among the students a strong, broad-based academic foundation in economic theory and its application, as well as excellent transferable skills that enhance their professional prospects in the banking, finance and business analytics sectors, corporate organizations, government and non-government establishments and regulatory agencies, national and international development agencies.

M.Sc. (Financial Economics)

The master's degree programme in Financial Economics is distinct from the conventional finance programmes, notably on account of its emphasis on the three-way linkage between macroeconomics, financial markets and financial regulations. Inputs in quantitative finance in the form of compulsory courses in Financial Economics, Computational Finance and Financial Engineering are important highlights of the programme. In addition, the programme provides for full length courses on Project Appraisal & Finance, Structural Products, M&A, and Investment Banking among others.

M.Sc. (Agribusiness Economics)

The M.Sc. Agribusiness Economics program prepares students for careers in the agribusiness sector, both as officers in agribusiness organizations, and as economists in agribusiness related research organizations. The academic content of the program has three major modules: an economics module, a management module, and an agribusiness module. The economics module equips students with the core economics principles as well as the advanced quantitative techniques that are the basic tools used to analyze questions of business and policy. The agribusiness module complements these tools with a broad grasp of the current theory, data, and issues surrounding the agribusiness sector in India. The management module provides students with an overview of essential managerial skills such as accounting, finance, marketing, supply chain management, risk management, and insurance.

M.Sc. (International Business Economics & Finance)

This new programme to be offered from the academic year 2016-17 is a unique course designed for careers in international trade, foreign portfolio investment, foreign direct investment, international technical/financial collaboration and joint ventures, international finance and portfolio management, etc.
The current intake for each programme is 60 students. The Institute also offers a Certificate Course on Computer Applications in Economic Analysis.

B.Sc. Programme

The institute offers a three-year undergraduate degree in Economics, encompasses forty-two courses. In addition to being a quantitative introduction to the discipline, the programme covers finance, management, accounting and sociology. It will welcome its introductory batch in the year 2019.

Publications

The Institute publishes a quarterly journal of economics in English, Artha Vijnana, the first publication of which was made in March 1959. This journal publishes results of research work carried out in the Institute as well as works of scholars from outside the Institute after a refereeing process. The Institute also publishes research works in the form of books and mimeograph series. The Kale Memorial Lecture, organised by the Institute every year on the occasion of the Founder's Day, is published under the Kale Memorial Lecture Series. Over 70 lectures have been delivered under this Lecture Series, and the list of speakers includes such prominent figures as: B R Ambedkar, John Mathai, P C Mahalanobis, V.K.R.V. Rao, K N Raj, V M Dandekar, I G Patel, Andre Beteille, Manmohan Singh, Amresh Bagchi, Jagdish Bhagwati, C Rangarajan and A P J Abdul Kalam. All the Kale Memorial Lectures delivered at the Gokhale Institute are published, and most of the Lectures' Text can be found on JSTOR.
This is a List of Kale Memorial Lectures held at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics since 1937 .
YearSpeakerTitle
1937V. G. KaleModern Tendencies in Economic Thought and Policy
1938G. S. GhuryeThe Social Process
1939B. R. AmbedkarFederation Versus Freedom
1940K. T. ShahThe Constituent Assembly
1941A. V. ThakkarThe Problem of the Aborigines in India
1942V. L. MehtaA Plea for Planning in Cooperation
1943S. G. VazeThe Formation of Federations
1944John MathaiEconomic Policy
1945S. R. DeshpandeA Statistical Approach to Vital Economic Problems
1946J. V. JoshiIndia's Sterling Balances
1948C. D. DeshmukhCentral Banking in India : A Retrospect
1949Dattatreya Gopal KarvePublic Administration in Democracy
1950R. L. DeyPolicy of Protection in India
1951M. VenkatrangaiyaCompetitive and Cooperative Trends in Federalism
1952A. D. GorwalaThe Role of the Administrator: Past, Present and Future
1953Laxmanshastri JoshiIndian Nationalism
1954W. R. NatuPublic Administration and Economic Development
1955P. C. MahalanobisSome Thoughts on Planning in India
1956S. K. MuranjanReflections on Economic Growth and Progress
1957B. K. MadanFinancing the Second Five-Year Plan
1958V. K. R. V. RaoSome Reflections on the Rate of Saving in Developing Economy
1959K. P. ChattopadhayaySome Approaches to Study of Social Change
1960B. VenkatappiahThe Role of Reserve Bank of India in the Development of Credit Institutions
1961B. N. GanguliEconomic Integration : Regional, National and International
1962A. AppadoraiDilemma in Modern Foreign Policy
1963H. M. PatelThe Defence of India
1964M. L. DantwalaAgriculture in a Developing Economy: The Indian Experience
1965Pitambar PantDecades of Transition – Opportunities and Tasks
1966D. R. GadgilDistrict Development Planning
1967S. L. KirloskarUniversities and the Training of Industrial and Business Management
1968E. M. S. NamboodripadThe Republican Constitution in the Struggle for Socialism
1969J. J. AnjariaStrategy of Economic Development
1971Rajani KothariPolitical Economy of Development
1972V. V. JohnEducation as Investment
1973K. N. RajThe Politics and Economics of "Intermediate Regimes"
1974H. K. ParanjapeIndia's Strategy for Industrial Growth: An Appraisal
1975Ashok MitraGrowth and Diseconomies
1976S. V. KogekarRevision of the Constitution
1977M. N. SrinivasScience, Technology and Rural Development in India
1978J. P. NaikEducational Reform in India : A Historical Review
1979Tarlok SinghThe Planning Process and Public Policy : A Reassessment
1980Aloo J. DasturProblems of Indian Minorities
1981V. M. DandekarMeasurement of Poverty
1982I. S. GulatiIMF Conditionality and Low Income Countries
1983I. G. PatelInflation - Should it be Cured or Endured?
1984M. P. RegeConcepts of Justice and Equality in the Indian Tradition
1985Andre BeteilleEquality of Opportunity and the Equal Distribution of Benefits
1986Manmohan SinghThe Quest for Equity in Development
1987K. R. RanadiveTown and Country in Economy in Transition
1988Sukhamoy ChakravartiDevelopment of Development Thinking
1989Malcolm S. AdiseshiahEighth Plan Perspectives
1990D. T. LakdawalaIndian Public Debt
1991Bagicha Singh MinhasPublic Versus Private Sector: Neglect of Lessons of Economics in Indian Policy Formulation
1992Verghese KurienAgricultural and Rural Development in the 1990s and Beyond: What should India Do and Why?
1993Raja J. ChelliahAn Essay on Fiscal Deficit
1994G. Ram ReddyThe Financing of Higher Education in India
1995Madhav GadgilPatenting Life
1996A. M. AhmadiConstitutional Values and the Indian Ethos
1997Vasant GowarikarSomething Happening in India that this Nation Should be Proud of
1998S. VenkitaramananDilemmas of Development: The Indian Experience
1999Mihir RakshitPost-Uruguay Round Trade Negotiations: A Developing Country Perspective
2000A. VaidyanathanPoverty and Development Policy
2001Amaresh Bagchi
2002Jagdish BhagwatiThe Globalisation Debate and India’s Economic Reforms
2003C. RangarajanChallenges for Monetary Policy
2004A. P. J. Abdul KalamThe evolution of enlightened citizen centric Society
2005Utsa PatnaikPoverty and Neo –Liberalism
2006Kirit S. ParikhBridging Divides and Reducing Disparities
2007Partha ChatterjeeDemocracy and Economic Transformation in India
2008Prabhat PatnaikSpeculation and Growth in Contemporary Capitalism
2009C. B. BhaveEvolution of the Capital Markets And Regulations in INDIA
2010Subir GokarnFood Inflation: This time it's Different
2012R.A. Mashelkar"Innovation Economy: The Challenge and Opportunities"
2014Erik Dietzenbacher"World Input-Output Database: An Application to India"
2015Raghuram Rajan"Global Economic Changes and their implications on Emerging Market Economies,especially India"
2016Heinz D. Kurz"SECULAR STAGNATION - Observations on a Recurrent Spectre"

Campus

The Institute has a serene and beautiful campus of and is located in the urban setting of Pune in Deccan Gymkhana area. The residential campus of the Institute comprising faculty and staff houses, guest houses, and the student dormitories, is built on a separate plot of, a few metres away from the Institute. There are two hostels, one for boys and another for girls. Adequate hostel accommodation is available for the existing students. The girls’ hostel was designed by the famous architect and urban planner Christopher Charles Benninger during 1996-1998.
The Institute campus is a mélange of old and new buildings spread over a large and lush green area. It provides just the right sylvan, solitary and peaceful setting required for learning and researching. After having undergone a recent landscaping, the campus attracts many a visitor as well. The campus consists of an academic block, faculty block, administration block, seminar hall and the Dhananjaya Rao Gadgil Library. There is a conference hall, known as Kale Memorial Hall, on the top floor of the Library which is used by the Institute and also let out to others on rent. The austere and majestic buildings radiate the old charm characteristic of the Pune city. On the Fergusson Hill behind the Institute lies the spot where Gokhale took the vows of the Servants of India Society – poverty, obedience, and service to nation - and administered them to three others. It has become a landmark because of the erection of a column there. Gokhale’s bungalow still stands in the precincts of the campus. A massive and graceful banyan tree adds to the charm of the place. This is said to be the tree under which Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi used to muse over political issues in their times. The residential campus of the GIPE too, is set in the midst of lush greenery and gives the place a uniquely quaint contour, especially in the rains.

Library

The Dhananjaya Rao Gadgil Library is a depository library of the publications of the United Nations and its agencies, the World Bank, the European Economic Community, the International Monetary Fund, and the Government of Canada. The Library possesses quite a large number of rare books published before the advent of twentieth century and which may not be available elsewhere. The oldest book in the Library dates back to 1680. Besides, there are quite a few hundred books which were published during the 18th and 19th centuries.