In India's journey towards rural development, the integration of lateral entries, partnerships, and capacity building initiatives is pivotal. Lateral entries can bring fresh expertise to the public sector, enhancing State capability to conceptualise, manage and monitor large scale transformational programs. Partnerships, particularly public-private-people collaborations, are instrumental in implementing scalable and sustainable development models. Strengthening the capacity of personnel engaged in Rural development is essential for adapting to on-going transformation of rural economy and deliver outcomes for household wellbeing. Local governments, community organisations, and civil society play a synergistic role, ensuring grassroots-level implementation and governance, while aligning with the broader objectives set by central and state governments. In this context this session will discuss how capability strengthening of rural development delivers architecture, the way in which appropriate talent and competency can be augmented, the alternative models that have evolved to address capacity constraints and what are the institutional/policy changes needed to attract talent to deliver on rural transformation and growth agenda.