Behavioural Insights Unit of India, NITI Aayog

To introduce a novel paradigm of behaviourally informed policy design and implementation in India, NITI Aayog partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Centre for Social and Behaviour Change (CSBC) in 2019 for instituting the Behavioural Insights Unit (BIU) of India. As the first BIU in South Asia, we shoulder the dual responsibility of introducing behavioural insights to the mainstream policy narratives of India, and also carefully deconstructing the Indian policy ecosystems for the rapidly growing behavioural science community worldwide.

Core Functions

Behavioural Review of Policies and Research

Generate insights at the intersection of policy and behaviour science.

Behavioural Interventions and Evaluation

Inform behavioural interventions (BI) with policy feasibility and scalability.

Scale - Up of Behavioural Interventions

Integrate BI into the design and implementation of policies in India.

Capacity Building

Institutionalise behavioral policy with immersive capacity building.

Our 3-I Process

Inform

Deconstruct policy ecosystems in India to inform scalable behavioural solutions.

Integrate

Embed behavioural solutions into the core approach and design of policies.

Integrate

Embed behavioural solutions into the core approach and design of policies.

Institutionalise

Influence mental models of policy actors with immersive capacity building.

In Focus

National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM)

The role of community participation in the sustainability of NJJM, and more generally of water, has been acknowledged worldwide. The National BIU is working with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Tata Trusts, Piramal Foundation, and State Governments to scientifically diagnose and address key behavioural challenges in NJJM.

Improving Adherence to IFA Supplementation

In collaboration with NITI Aayog Aspirational District Programme (ADP) and Curve International, the National BIU is developing a comprehensive toolkit that will support the scale-up of interventions that are proven to increase the consumption of IFA pills by pregnant women.

Behaviour Change in Public Policy

The National BIU and Development Monitoring & Evaluation Office of India (DMEO) analyzed 121 central government policies to identify behaviour change approaches that are currently adopted by the Government of India and the areas of opportunities it leaves for policymaking to integrate behavioural insights in a more rigorous manner.

Stories of Change

This report is a compendium of innovative interventions from the Aspirational Districts that demonstrate the application of behavioural science in public policy through 30 case studies across five thematic areas. The Centre for Social and Behaviour Change led the development of the report, in partnership with NITI Aayog and the development partners under the Aspirational Districts Programme. The report was launched by Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog with Dr Pavan Mamidi, Director of CSBC, on 27 April 2022.

The Behavioural Insights for Innovative Policy Programme (BIIP)

The Behavioural Insights for Innovative Policy (BIIP) Programme is an 18-hour immersive training program in applied behavioural insights, delivered by leading behaviour and policy experts from around the world. The National BIU launched the first batch of the BIIP Programme in October 2021 and concluded it in January 2022, with 206 participants.

The Behavioural Insights for Policy Fellowship (BIPF)

The Behavioural Insights for Policy (BIP) Fellowship is a unique experiential learning programme that trains young professionals for a career in behaviour science. The National BIU launched the first batch of the BIP Fellowship in October 2021 and concluded it in January 2022, with 18 Fellows from 3 countries and 9 states in India.

Publications

Behaviour Change in Public Policy

Stories of Change

Experiential Programmes

Behavioural Insights for Innovative Policy Programme

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Behavioural Insights for Policy Fellowship

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Write to us at: biu-niti@gov.in