The Centre for Economic Studies and Planning has established itself as a premier Centre for teaching and research in Economics. The richness of the teaching and research programme are reflected by the structure of the courses and the research output both of the faculty and the students. The faculty has a distinguished record of publications of monographs, books and articles.

A distinctive feature of the Centre is the easy accessibility of its faculty to the students. The emphasis is on learning and not just on memorizing. Students have to write term papers, give presentations,solve problems, appear in open book examinations, etc. In the process there is continuous evaluation.

(a) M.Phil. / Ph.D. : M.Phil. / Ph.D. programme at the Centre for Economic Studies & Planning consists of       course work and a dissertation for M.Phil. and a thesis for Ph.D.. For the M.Phil. programme, of the four       courses required to be completed in two semesters, one must be chosen from either Methods of Economic       Analysis or Statistical and Econometric Methods. The other three courses are chosen from a range of optional       courses offered each year. In each course, selected topics are pursued in depth with a view to introducing the       students to the analytical issues and the current state of research in the subject. Links are thereby sought to be       developed between the course work and the research required for the dissertation which is to be written in the       second year of the M.Phil. programme.

      The course work for the M.Phil. consists of a combination of lectures, the preparation and presentation of       seminar papers and participation in workshops on work in progress. This range of academic activities enables       students to understand the inherent link between theory and empirical investigations in research work.

      M.Phil. / Ph.D. candidates seeking admission to the Centre are required to bring with them a synopsis of their       research theme, indicating its scope, plan and viability.

(b) M.A. : The Centre for Economic Studies and Planning offers the M.A. degree in Economics. The focus of the       M.A. Programme is two-fold: (i) to acquaint the students with the theoretical foundations of, and the basic idea       in the main branches of Economics from the perspective of alternative theoretical approaches, and (ii) to       enable the students to relate their analytical understanding of the subject to the actual experiences of       economies and to interpret the problems of change in a historical perspective. Consequently, special       emphasis is placed on the study of problems of development in the context of the Indian economy. The M.A.       programme consists of 16 courses which are taught over four semesters: Of these, 8 courses are compulsory,       made up of 7 theoretical and tools courses and 1 course on the Indian economy, while the remaining 8       courses are optional, with students choosing from a wide range of courses on offer each year. One of the new       experiences that the M.A. students gain is the writing of term papers as part of the course requirement in       various courses. It is through these that they are introduced to the notion of research.