Sujeet Kumar

About Sujeet Kumar

I am an independent researcher based in Delhi. My work has appeared in The Conversation, Quartz India, Economic and Political Weekly, The Wire, Scroll, Telangana Today, Journal of Social Work, Social Work Education among other publications. I received my Ph.D.(2020) and M.Phil.(2015) from the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University and an M.A. in Social Work (2012) from University of Delhi, and a B.Sc.(H) in Mathematics (2007) from Magadh University. I also did my B.A. in Social Work (2010) and an M.A. in Economics (2021) from Indira Gandhi National Open University. My research interests lie at the intersections of urban and rural poverty and inequality with reference to political economy, caste, gender, social justice, and spatiality. I work around the questions: How do the poor gain access to basic services? How do different political regimes shape development policy and its consequences on the lives of the poor and infrastructure development? How are the poor located in the development policy and programmes? How do the demands of the poor get translated into policy and governance? More specifically, I examine how vulnerable communities secure rights and citizen-state relations. I usually follow a mixed-method approach for evidence collection, including primary surveys and in-depth qualitative fieldwork. All my research work is set in different States of India. I have worked on, among other themes, slum improvement project (in Delhi, Jaipur and Patna); securing access to water, sanitation and hygiene among urban poor (in Jaipur and Bhubaneswar); gender-based violence (in Kishangarh, Rajasthan); Forest Rights Act, disaster and displacement, and caste discrimination (in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand); land acquisition and citizenship rights (in Uttar Pradesh).

Experience

1. Independent Researcher

   Melissa Gillis Care

   Jul 2019 — Present · Delhi, IN

Education

• Jawaharlal Nehru University

  Master of Philosophy - MPhil

  2012 — 2014

• Delhi University

  Master of Arts - MA

  2010 — 2012

• Jawaharlal Nehru University

  PhD Candidate

  2014 — 2019