Impact Assessment of HRDP Projects

DevInsights conducted an impact assessment of the Holistic Rural Development Program (HRDP), the flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of HDFC Bank under its broader Parivartan framework. Implemented across ten states in India—Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Gujarat, and Assam—the HRDP aims to foster happy and prosperous communities by addressing critical development areas such as education, healthcare and hygiene, livelihoods, and skill development.

The assessment involved a cross-sectional, mixed-methods approach combining both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Quantitative data were collected through household surveys covering 6,391 respondents, while qualitative insights were gathered through 385 interactions, including focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with diverse stakeholders such as SHG members, farmers, local governance representatives, school officials, the HDFC project team, and implementation partners. Additionally, 65 detailed case studies were developed to highlight individual and community-level transformations brought about by the program.

The evaluation was structured around the OECD-DAC criteria—relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability—and employed a weighted Likert-scale methodology to generate robust scores for each indicator. This evidence-based assessment provided actionable insights into the program’s performance and impact, offering valuable guidance for strengthening future CSR initiatives and ensuring long-term, inclusive rural development.