0000-0002-8665-8086 About
I am a Professor of Public Policy and Campus Director at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Hyderabad, where I lead the School of Public Policy and Governance. My work spans institution-building, teaching, research, and executive education — united by a commitment to designing policy institutions that are just, equitable, and effective.
I was part of the founding team that launched India's first postgraduate programme in Public Policy at the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy in 2012. At TISS Hyderabad, I have since conceived and launched four postgraduate programmes — the MA in Public Policy and Governance (2014), the MA in Cities and Governance (2021), the Dual Degree MA in Public Policy and International Relations (2024), and the MA in Public Policy and Law (2024) — along with a forthcoming BS in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (2025) and three certificate courses in Public Policy Analysis, Data Science and Public Policy, and Inclusive Cities.
My research focuses on state-market relations, regulatory institutions, the sociology of markets, social discrimination, and human development. I am the author of Dalit Capital: State, Markets, and Civil Society in Urban India (Routledge) and co-author of The Indian Middle Class (Oxford University Press, with Surinder Jodhka). My current projects examine Universal Basic Income, urban definitional frameworks, municipal finance innovation, and the policy dimensions of death and dignity.
I hold a doctorate from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Employment
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Tata Institute of Social Sciences Professor2014 - Present
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Tata Institute of Social Sciences Professor2014 - Present
Education
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Jawaharlal Nehru University Phd
Projects & Funding
Projects & funding information is unavailable.
Publications (46)
- Life, Livelihood, and Death in the Time of the Pandemic Save
- COVID-19 Pandemic in India: Response of State, Markets and Civil Society Save
- Introduction: pandemic precarity Save
- Determinants of COVID-19 pandemic in India: an exploratory study of Indian states and districts Save
- Everyday Politics of Economic Life in Small Town North India: A Social History of Kannauj through the Lens of the Ittar (Perfume) Business Save
- Market-based Profit Accumulation and Civil Society Save
- Intersectionality, Discrimination and Unfavourable Inclusion Save
- Economics, Ethics and Mental Health in the Times of Corona Save
- Dalits, Theories of Caste and Transformative Recognition and Redistribution Save
- Dalit capital: State, markets and civil society in urban India Save