Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) is a social sciences and humanities research centre in New Delhi, India.
History
The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies was established by Rajni Kothari in 1963. It is financed primarily by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).About CSDS, CSDS website, 30 March 2009. In order to start the CSDS, Kothari quit his job as assistant director of the National Institute of Community Development in 1963.  It was once located in a structure in Delhi's Indraprastha Estate that belonged to the Indian Adult Education Association. CSDS relocated to its current site in 1966–1967.

Mahmood Mamdani, a political scientist and anthropologist, father of Zohran Mamdani was the Rajni Kothari Chair Professor at the CSDS from December 2017 to March 2018. He gave the yearly Rajni Kothari Chair lecture on "Thinking of Justice through Africa's Experience in the 20th Century" on April 4, 2018, following the conclusion of his term.

The CSDS received a show-cause notice from the ICSSR in August 2025, citing several administrative and financial irregularities as well as grant-in-aid regulation violations. The notice claimed that in an attempt to "malign the reputation and image" of the Election Commission of India (ECI), CSDS had disseminated false election data regarding the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election and provided a biassed interpretation of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. Later media reports state that the ICSSR and other examining agencies identified a number of significant issues with the institute's operation, such as financing lapses, data tampering, and a lack of auditing.

Programmes 
Some of the center's programs are:

Lokniti Programme for Comparative Democracy
The Sarai Programme
Indian Language Programme
 References