The NSP encourages and promotes Operational Research to generate evidence on effectiveness of interventions and strategies aimed towards TB elimination. The STDC being the technical support arm of the STC should actively take a role in planning and conducting Implementation Research(IR)/ operational Research(OR). 

The STDCs should independently plan and execute need-based Ooperational/ Implementation Research (OR). This would include:

  1. Identify research priority for the state to better achieve the program objectives in alignment with the Operational Research guidelines of NTEP.
  2. Disseminate research priority areas with the potential researchers, institutes, and agencies for the conduct of Operational Research. 
  3. Organize capacity building sessions for interested program staff to design research studies and proposals in the form of an Operational Research workshops (Protocol Development, Report writing).
  4. Call for Proposals, review & approval of proposal in coordination with State Operational Research Committee
  5. Setup and host a formal Institutional Ethics Committee to review and approve any research proposals. They may also leverage any existing IEC at a co-located institution.
  6. Applying for and securing funds for executing research studies from external sources.
  7. Support state OR committee to execute approved studies
  8. Review progress of approved studies every quarter
  9. In coordination with Medical college task force, STDCs should also plan to conduct Operational Research dissemination workshop annually. 
  10. Advocate for policy/ operational changes in the state and the country, based on Operational Research findings.
  11. Maintain a data base of all TB research (past/ ongoing/ published) from the state
  12. Evaluate and Document best practices in the state, and disseminate them by publishing related reports in periodicals/ journals for necessary programmatic uptake

The Epidemiologist of STDC will be the Nodal Officer for Operational Research related activities.

STDC should ensure that required budget for Operational Research related activities are proposed through the PIP mechanisms. It is essential for the STDC to have a concrete plan in terms of number of research projects proposed in the PIP.