Right to Development as a concept emerged from the attempts made by the international community to arrive at a comprehensive notion of human rights which would be justiciable and enforceable.  Although it has evolved substantially since its first mention in the Declaration on the Right to Development, the nature, content and form of Right to Development remain a controversial issue till date.

Questions regarding the form of the concept become all the more important when one wants to make it operational.  In order to operationalize a comprehensive notion of human rights it has to be formalized in a way so that the level of achievement of the right can be measured in terms of some indicator. CDHR is continuously working towards this end. Attempt is being made to give the Right to Development a clear and precise form, drawing upon the Social Choice theoretic formulation of rights put forward by Amartya Sen. Legal issues concerning justiciability, institutionalization of transparent and accountable governance, as well as a study of the participatory mechanisms that need to be in place for implementing the right to development, are being undertaken as part of the Centre’s work.