Continued her interest in ground level India, after founding an Institute for Social Studies in 1969.

Transcription

1 Education: Experience: Graduated from Mysore University in 1953 with three gold medals for first rank in Mathematics, English and Overall Performance. Masters Degree in Economics from Oxford University with special papers in Public Finance & Statistics (1963). Given special exhibition, an honour and free ship by the college for her essay in ethics. Vast experience in relating to the experience on the ground in India; and translating it into development and policy design, with special reference to women. Foe example After graduating from Oxford, drawn by the political philosophy and economic ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, undertook Padayatra with Vinobha Bhave and lived in Koraput gram dan villages for a while and wrote about it in journals and newspapers; as well as wrote a monograph comparing the variety of rural development programs that were on the ground in India in the 1950s, such as the Community Development programme, [C D and NES] the KVIC program as well as the bhoodan approach. Between 1963 and 69 taught Economics at Miranda House, Delhi University Some of the women who are current achievers such as Brinda Karat, Nalini Singh, Indira Rajaraman, Rohini Nayyar, Madhu Puri Trehan, Neelam Deo were her students. Continued her interest in ground level India, after founding an Institute for Social Studies in Fellowships: U.G.C. Senior Fellowship ( ) at the Centre for Advanced Studies, Delhi School of Economics. Subject of Research Paper: Indus River waters Disputes India & Pakistan: The Politics of Aid Awarded fellowship to the Scandinavian Institute for Asian Studies Copenhagen, 1983 to lecture in 9 Universities in the Region on Gender & Poverty. 1

2 Awarded Fulbright fellowship held it at Divinity School, Harvard University, 1984 one semester conducted a course on the life and thought of Mahatma Gandhi. This has now become a core curriculum at Harvard. Held it simultaneously at World Development Institute, Boston University, 1984, presented seminars at BU and Colleges in that area on Measurement of Women s work and Alternative development. Invited as Visiting fellow at IDS, Sussex University, 1993 A. Field experience: In 1977 traveled to remote villages in every state in India, from the corner of Arunachal to the tips of south India, to J and K and the districts of Almora, to assess a program of the Central Social Welfare Board called the socio-economic program to enable women to earn their livelihood. Later between 1975 and 1990 engaged in field work, to give visibility and program strength to women working in less known areas of economic activity, often unrecognized. Conducted surveys of more than 20 occupational groups of women workers in less visible occupations tassar cocoon gatherers of Madhya Pradesh, prawn peelers of Kerala as migrants to Gujarat, cashew nut huskers of Kerala, bidi rollers of Mangalore, sikki workers and madhubani painters of Bihar, chikan workers of Lucknow, weed removers of Rajasthan, silk worm rearers of Malur in Karnataka, pappad rollers of Lijjat in Mumbai, milk producers of Kaira District, agarbathi rollers of Bangalore, tea pickers of Nilgiris, silk reelers of Magadi Karnataka, wild berry pickers from forests of Gulbarga in Karnataka, workers on the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee sites, waste paper lifafa makers of Turkman Gate, and zardosi workers of Jama Masjid. Also conducted investigation of many other economic conflict areas such as impact of mining on women in the Almora district In each case the studies, which meant household surveys and discussions led to identification of the work the worker and policy response, either as social support services or wage fixation The study of the time use of men and women in villages of Rajasthan and West Bengal revealed the error in enumeration of the woman as worker and led to her being a member of every consultation on the design of the surveys in statistics whether it was the NSSO or the Census consultations. 2

3 In was honorary Economic Advisor to the National Commission on Women, and developed along with other women economists, a Gender Development Index for the District-level. Between 2000 and 2007, enabled the formation of associations of elected GP women members in the four southern states of India and further enabled them to engage with macro public policies of the state, by continuous interaction and focus group discussions. This entitled her to the invited to several of the round tables convened by the Ministry of Panchayat Raj as well as to other meetings and consultations in India and outside on devolution of power with special reference to women s inclusion in governance. B. Participation in Program and Policy: Convened two special working groups on improving the statistics on women in the unorganized sector set up in the 70s by first the Ministry of Labour and later by the Planning Commission.She was also a member of the advisory committee of the Ministry of Labour, as well as of the DWCRA advisory committee set up by the Ministry of Rural Development, both Govt of India bodies. In these committees she was able to transform the understanding of women s roles and therefore needs, because of her research into the real lives of women workers. Member of the ICSSR, Committee on Women Studies, and later similar committee set up by the UGC. Between 1980 and 1990, one of the founding members of several institutions and associations, engaged with women and their lives, such as the Indian Association of Women Studies, the publishing house Kali for women, as well as DAWN a south-south network of women scholars and Founder member of Third World Organization of Women in Science as well as Founder member of the International Network for Engineers and Scientists-INES -an outcome of the Scientists for Peace Initiatives of Bertrand Russell. Membership of expert groups: C. Member of committees and expert groups set up by Such as Govt of India, States as well as the UN, 3

4 1. Govt of India, Expert group on population policy, chaired by Dr MS Swaminathan 2. Karnataka State Planning Board for 6 years 3. Steering committee on women, of Planning commission for five, of the 5-year plans 4. on gendering statistics set up by the CSO /NSSO on improving quality of statistics on women, set up by the UN statistical division 5. on grass root planning set up by the Planning commission 6. A member of Govt of India s preparatory committee for every UN World Conference on Women since 1975 to Also of other expert groups. 7. and Committees set up to improve the design of development with special reference to poverty removal and gender justice, whether of Ministry of women and child or Health, Labour, Education or Rural development and similar expert groups set up by ministries as well as UN agencies such as FAO and ILO. D. International Groups, such as 1. The Eminent Persons group associated with the Graca Machel Committee (UN) on the Impact on children of Armed Conflict 2. Member of South Commission, chaired by late Dr Julius Nyerere of which Dr Manmohan Singh was member secretary 3. Member of the Special Committee set up by the MEA to prepare for the Non Aligned Movement Summit on Economic and Social Issues - Cuba. E. International experience: 4

5 Has traveled as a professional, i.e. to learn and to share, to 84 countries of the world between 1955 and date. In each country has visited a village as an ethic to learn. F. Currently: 1. Member, Council of Management, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore 2. Member of the Southern Area Local Board of the Reserve Bank of India 3. Member of the NGO core group of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) 4. One of the three Jury Expert members to select nominee for the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forest, Vice President of India is the chairman of the jury. 5. Member of the selection committee as the official nominee of Government of India; MGNREG Act, Appointment of Ombudsman for NREGA 6. Member of the Advisory Committee, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) G. Honours: 1. Awarded Padma Bhushan by the President of India in the Honours list of Received an Honorary Doctorate for her contribution to International Development from the University of Westville, Durban Republic of South Africa on 15 th May One of the two women who received the Bradford Morse Memorial Award given by the United Nations Development Fund at the World Conference at Beijing in 1995: for outstanding achievements through professional and voluntary activities in promoting the advancement of women and gender equality for 20 years. 5

6 4. Rotary Bangalore Downtown (In celebration of 100 years of service) awarded in recognition of path breaking attainments and substantive contribution to development economics and gender, thereby enhancing the standing of her vocation and women on March 18, Felicitation for outstanding contributions to gender issues and a lecture The Contribution of Women s Studies to Transformation, at NMKRV college for Women, Bangalore, 2003 H. Publications: Published more than 20 books on Development with special reference to elimination of poverty and inequality. Some are given below ; 1. Indian Women, (ed), Publication Division, GOVT of India, New Delhi 1975 This was India s official entry at the first UN conference on Women, Mexico Women s Quest for Power five Indian case studies, Vikas Publication, Ghaziabad, [This has case studies of SEWA, AMUL, LIJJAT all now famous endeavours ] 3. Tyranny of the Household, (ed. with Nirmala Banerjee): Vikas Publication, New Delhi, 1985 Showing flaws in data collection, has an essay by Amartya Sen 4. Speaking of Faith; Cross Cultural Perspectives on Women, Religion and Social Change (ed. with Diana. L. Eck). Kali for Women, New Delhi Women, Development and the UN: A Sixty-year Quest for Equality and Justice, UNIHP, IUP, Bloomington and Indianapolis, USA, 2005 a historical look at how women influenced the UN. 6. Narratives from the Women s Studies Family, (ed. with Pam Rajput) New Delhi, Sage Publication, The Vocabulary of Women s Politics, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi, For Women To Lead --Ideas And Experiences From Asia: Study On The Legal Political Impediment To Gender Equity In Governance. A Study 6

7 Sponsored by UNDP (Management And Governance) New York, published by National Commission for Women Minds, Not Bodies - Expanding The Notion Of Gender In Development, Bradford Morse Memorial Lecture U.N.D.P., Beijing Sept. 5, (Later Published as Beijing And Beyond, a collection of five lectures, by the British Council Division, British High Commission India 1996.) I. Distinguished Lectures: 1. Padmaja Naidu Memorial Lecture, Indian Women; Today and Tomorrow. Published by Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, Nuancing globalisation or Mainstreaming the downstream or Reforming Reform Nita Barrow Memorial Lecture, University of West Indies, Barbados, November Are We Knowledge Proof? Development as Waste, speech delivered at Lovraj Kumar Memorial Lecture, 26 September, New Delhi (Reprinted in Wastelands News, Vol. 19(1), August-October 2003, Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development, New Delhi, pp Women s Participation in the History of Ideas: The Importance of Reconstructing Knowledge, National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, Feb 6 th, How Women s Leadership can transform the Nation Durga Bai Deshmukh Memorial Lecture Hyderabad 6. Development as if Women Mattered - Can Women Build a new Paradigm? OECD, Paris, Gender-apartheid as a hindrance to development: Women and the Global Economy, A public conference convened by Alliance Sud and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) November 15, 2005, Berne (Switzerland) 8. Women s Rights between the UN HumanRights Regime and Free Trade Agreements, Globalising Women s Rights: Confronting unequal development 7

8 between the, UN rights framework and WTO-trade agreements, Bonn, May Through the looking glass of poverty, Paper presented at New Hall Cambridge, United kingdom, October 19 th Valuing Women- Signals From The Ground (Broad Theme: Cultural Diversity And Universal Norms) Opening Session: June 1 st 2001, For The University Of Maryland, USA 11. The Torture of Women: Some Dimensions, Paper presented at VII International Symposium on Torture, September 1999, New Delhi. Published more than 1000 articles in Indian newspapers and journals on similar issues. 8