It was a brainchild of B. P. R. Vithal, IAS (Retd)., a former Principal Secretary to the Finance and Planning Department of Government of Andhra Pradesh.

[2] This institute conducts research in the fields of rural development and poverty, agriculture and food security, irrigation and water management, public finance, demographics, health, and the environment.

Conducting interdisciplinary research in analytical and applied areas of social sciences, encompassing socio-economic and other aspects of development, constitutes the predominant activities of the centre.

The Centre has four conference halls with excellent acoustic and projection facilities which can be used for official meetings and seminars where parallel sessions can be conducted.

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) (Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India), in appreciation of its role in promotion of research and training, recognized this centre as a national institute in the year 1986 and included the Centre in its network of institutions.