The Sehgal Foundation is in the process of establishing an Institute of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD) in Gurgaon, Haryana. At completion, IRRAD will have three centers; one for the training of village champions in rural development, one for rural research, and the third one for governance and rural policy issues.

Training Center: The Foundation is implementing the ISVD model in a total of 12 villages through the concept of Village Champions (VCs). VCs are selected from the local area and are given an intense training on the implementation of ISVD. After training, a VC assumes direct responsibility for the assigned village and undertakes implementation of the ISVD model with the active participation of the community. The Foundation's goal is to reach up to 20 model villages using the ISVD model and VC concept by year 2007.

The training program is designed to be interactive in combination with limited classroom instruction.

Research Center: The Center will provide facilities to post-graduate students and research fellows from the Universities engaged in social studies to undertake research in the Mewat villages on social and development issues. They will be encouraged to further refine and fine tune the programs and make them cost effective. The key objective is to incorporate research findings into programs, implement the improved programs and share research findings with the policy, governance and advocacy Center.

Policy, Governance and Advocacy Center: The responsibility of this Center is to promote realistic rural policies with the planners and policy makers. In addition it will promote good governance practices among public, nonprofit and private sectors. It will host symposiums and seminars on rural development, good governance and corporate social responsibility.

Going Green: The Institute is under construction and sits among the ultra modern high rise buildings that are cropping up all over Gurgaon in recent years. As compared to other buildings in the area, it may not be as fancy or as tall but it is unique in several other ways. It combines simplicity of design with environmentally friendly technologies. The building is being uniquely insulated for energy efficiency. There will be 35 KW of solar energy generated on site at IRRAD, which will be sufficient for all lighting and computers throughout the campus. It has extensive provision for rain water harvesting. An underground tank with a capacity of 400,000 liters for storage of harvested water is being constructed. The excess water from this tank will go for ground water recharging. It has built-in water recycling and waste disposal facilities.

The building is being constructed according to the Platinum rating of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDS) standards set by the United States Green Building Council. There are a very few buildings in India with this distinction.