I am a Professor of Public Policy and currently Campus Director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.

For me, ‘Public Policy’ is a doing verb; it entails designing institutional frameworks for better, just and sustainable societies. Towards this, my efforts are directed towards four interrelated domains. 

I have been instrumental in creating institutional bedrock for training new-age policy professionals and equipping them with the necessary competence and skillsets so that they can be at the forefront of addressing new and emergent policy challenges. This involved conceiving the intellectual agenda of the School of Public Policy and Governance at TISS Hyderabad. As part of this mandate, I had the opportunity to conceive and design the curriculum framework for four postgraduate programmes, namely, Public Policy and Governance (launched in 2014) and Cities and Governance (launched in 2021), Dual Degree MA in Public Policy and International Relations ( launched 2024) and MA in Public Policy and Law ( launched2024). Earlier, I was part of the two-member team at the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy that designed and launched the first post-graduate Prorgamme in Public Policy in India (2012). I have also conceived the undergraduate program—BS in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, to be offered in the year 2025 at TISS Hyderabad.  Besides the post-graduate/undergraduate programmes, I have also developed the intellectual framework for three certificate courses – Public Policy Analysis, Data Science and Public Policy, and Inclusive Cities offered by the School of Public Policy and Governance, TISS, Hyderabad. 

The second domain concerns teaching. I offer core public policy courses that together build the capacity of students, professionals, and civil servants to think, deliberate, and design just and sustainable policy institutions. My courses/lectures/curate workshops persuade the students to explore the question of ethics in public action, understand diverse frameworks of policy actions, undertake policy analysis exercises, and develop the art of reading and writing policy/legislative documents. Besides this, I lead a Policy Area Concentration (PAC) in “Regulation and Institutions”. The PAC encourages the students to think and design an institutional framework that can regulate the emergent market economy from the point of equity without compromising efficiency concerns. It explores the regulatory dynamics, concerns, and institutional requirements in infrastructure, utility, and welfare sectors.

My policy research interests include the interface between the state and markets, regulation and institutions, sociology of markets, social discrimination, and human development. Currently, I am working with a faculty and students team on research project entitled:

• Dignity in Death: A Policy Perspective
• Feasibility of Universal Basic Income
• Issues and Possibilities in Defining Urban
• Innovation in Municipal Finances: Trends and Prospects 

 My recent books are titled Dalit Capital: State, Markets, and Civil Society in Urban India; published by Routledge, and The Indian Middle Class (co-authored with Surinder Jodhka), published by Oxford University Press.  I regularly partner with students to work on sponsored as well as self-designed research projects.

Lastly, I am frequently invited by leading training institutions to train senior and civil servants. I have developed case studies to explain what works and does not work in order to explain the policy frameworks in the country and beyond.

I am also associated with several public policy and social science Institutions in an advisory capacity. I would have been more contented and happier if I had pursued a career in sports. I have earned my doctorate from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.