Director

Holds a PhD. in Economics and Masters Degree in Statistics. Has more than 25 years of experience in socio-economic research.  His research work has been largely on issues in (1) education (2) governance and service delivery (3) rights of children and marginalized communities (4) Internal Migration and (5) Kerala’s development issues. He was the team leader/principal investigator of more than two dozen studies and was a member of the study team of several other studies.  The studies in which he was the project director include: Baseline Socio-Economic Study for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation In Kavaratti Island-Lakshadweep conducted for CSIR-NISCAIR; Economic Impact of the ‘Access to Livelihoods’ programme for People with Disabilities conducted for the Leonard Cheshire Disability, South Asia; Child Budget Analysis of Local Governments in Kerala, a project funded by the UNICEF; Employment and Social Protection of Cashew Workers in India with special reference to Kerala” for V V Giri National Labour Institute; Status of Pre-primary Education in Kerala”, sponsored by the DPEP; Private Costs of Medical Education  in Kerala funded by the Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development (KRPLLD) a programme sponsored by the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS), Netherlands at Centre for Development Studies; ‘Evaluation of Alternative Schooling System in Kerala”, sponsored by the District Primary Education Programme and coordinated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India;  Need Assessment Study for ICDS for Under 3 Children for the Integrated Child Development Scheme.  He was also a member of the research team following studies: How the Poor Manages their Finances: A Study of the Portfolio Choices of Poor Households in Ernakulam District, Kerala, a study conducted for the Reserve Bank of India;  Comparative  Study of the Impact of the Donor Initiated Programmes on Research Capacity in the South sponsored by the Directorate General  for International Cooperation (DGIS), Netherlands. The study formed part of an international study covering three Asian, two African and two Latin American countries; Baseline and Citizen Surveys for Services Delivered by Institutions Selected under the Service Delivery Project (SDP) of the Government of Kerala; Education of a Deprived Group in a Totally Literate Region: The Case of Tribal Children in Kerala for Action Aid India; Capability Building of the Research Community under Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development’ sponsored by KRPLLD; Evaluation of the Pre-Matric Hostels for Scheduled Tribe Children in Wayanad district of Kerala conducted by the District Institute of Education (DIET), Wayanad, Kerala; Member of the Research Team of the Research Project “Financing Secondary Education in Kerala” (2002-2003) sponsored by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration; Emerging Issues in Local Self Governance in Kerala sponsored by the SDC-CapDeck

Positions held by him include: Member of the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee for Kerala constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India; Expert on Social Welfare Legislations, Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission; Member of the Working Group on Urbanisation, Kerala State Planning Board; Member, Commission on Restructuring the Coir Industry in Kerala constituted by the Government of Kerala; Member, Academic Council, Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, an autonomous college under Mahatma Gandhi University; Member of the Panel constituted by Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) for undertaking the Social Audit of the functioning of KILA; Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Commission on Restructuring Higher Education in Kerala (Prabhat Patnaik- Chairman) appointed jointly by the Students’ Unions in Kerala viz., Kerala University Union, Mahatma Gandhi University Union, Cochin University Union, Calicut University Union and Kannur University Union; Secretary of the Organising Committee of Six State Level Workshops and National Conference on “Education in Kerala’s Development: Towards a New Agenda” organised jointly by UNICEF, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi and CSES in December 2000.