At CMS, our work is anchored in five key thematic areas that drive our research and action. These areas reflect our commitment to equity, accountability, and sustainability in public life. They guide our efforts to inform policy, inspire change, and empower communities for lasting impact.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is not just a goal, but a process that needs to be tracked regularly and in a holistic manner suitable to our cultural and community ethos. CMS covers multiple issues in this focus area including:
- Employment
- Gender
- Poverty Alleviation and Livelihoods
- Food Security
- Child Labour
- Migration
- Tribal Development
- Ageing
- Disability
- Social Security
- Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping
- Child Rights and Protection
- Panchayati Raj Institutions
- Rural Development
- Violence Against Women
- Water and Sanitation
- Right to Education
- Adult Education (Total Literacy Campaign, Post-Literacy Programme, Continuing Education Programme, Jan Shikshan Sansthan),
- Elementary Education (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan-SSA)
- Higher Education
- Public Health
- Maternal and Child Health
- Nutrition
- Public Private Partnership
- Health Infrastructure
- Health Economics
- Adolescent Health
- HIV/AIDS
- Immunisation
- Safe Abortion
- Communicable Diseases
- Adolescent Health
- Child Health, Family Welfare
- Vector Borne Diseases (TB, Malaria, Leprosy)
Education
Health
Environment Stewardship
Better understanding and connections with our natural surroundings, along with co-creating sustainable solutions for environmental conservation is crucial for equitable development. CMS has undertaken number of studies and assessments of various programs in the following areas:
- Climate Change
- Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation
- Biodiversity
- Urban and Rural Environment
- Sustainable Transport
- Natural Resource Management (Watershed, Forestry and Livelihoods)
- Wildlife Conservation
- Disaster Relief & Resilience
- Environment Education
CMS VATAVARAN: India’s premier and Asia’s largest film festival on wildlife and environment - cmsvatavaran.org
Accountable Governance
Path breaking studies and initiatives such as the Citizens’ Charter, performance appraisal and social auditing, national annual corruption survey, the Zero-level Corruption Initiative in partnership with the CVC, and creation of forums for discussing electoral and judicial reforms have earned CMS Professionals praise at the national and international levels
CMS Professionals has helped in establishing links with civil society groups and designing campaigns for RTI to further social objectives like transparency in elections, exposing corruption and improving civic services.
Senior CMS Functionaries have been involved in the RTI movement much before the RTI Act was legislated. The engagement with RTI Act is far from over for CMS, as it is constantly tracking RTI’s implementation and designing campaigns to create awareness about RTI.
CMS Studies and work in this sector include:
- Good Governance
- Right to Information
- Political and Judicial Reform
- Accountability Standards
- Social Audits
- Citizen Charter
- Corruption
- Delivery of Public Services
- Active Citizenship
Responsible Media
Indian Media scene has seen a dramatic changes over the last two decades. How and what impact these changes have on raising critical national challenges has been an area of interest and concern for CMS.
CMS Media Lab has been tracking how media (both news media and also entertainment) are portraying / covering issues to do with development like gender, environment, child rights, road safety, etc. on such issues, CMS specialises in content analysis of both news and entertainment programs in media.
Many CMS studies has contributed as policy inputs and industry guidelines. Efforts are also been made with content creators and aspiring journalists for more impactful stories. CMS has also used many of these study findings to develop capacity strengthening and orientation programs for aspiring and working media professionals. CMS has developed and conducted number of workshops, fellowships, awards, mentoring programs and field visits for media professionals across the country.
Social & Behaviour Change
CMS has made remarkable contribution in development communication & practices in the country. CMS has conducted many experiments with methodologies in developing communication strategies, as well as monitoring their progress and evaluating their impact towards enhancing behaviour & social change. CMS provides objective research support to social and behaviour change initiatives. Special interest continues to be on meaningful entertainment education for children and adults on issues like health, education, hygiene, rights, survival, and other development issues.
CMS has substantial expertise and experience on Social and Behavioural Change studies, including for:
- Monitoring & Impact Evaluation
- Development Campaigns & Public Service Messages
- Entertainment Education
- Formulating Communication Strategies
- Analysing Content and Cataloguing IEC Materials
- Pre-testing Creatives and Storylines