My work in Tribal Studies is grounded in long-term field engagement, empirical research, and policy-oriented analysis across tribal regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. I focus on tribal livelihoods, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, and the everyday interfaces between communities and the state. A core area of my research examines how traditional ecological knowledge, customary institutions, and cultural practices shape economic resilience and sustainable livelihoods among Adivasi communities.
I have extensively studied education and health outcomes in tribal areas, highlighting structural gaps in access, quality, and governance, and assessing the effectiveness of flagship welfare schemes. My work also engages deeply with public policy, particularly Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), PESA, PMAAGY, education financing, and livelihood interventions, combining budget analysis with village-level evidence.
Through projects, publications, and institutional work, I aim to bridge indigenous knowledge and contemporary development policy, ensuring that tribal voices, rights, and lived realities remain central to planning, governance, and inclusive development frameworks.
My work in Development Economics focuses on rural development, welfare economics, public finance, and climate resilience, with particular attention to marginalized and tribal regions. I analyze how public policies, budgetary allocations, and welfare programmes translate into outcomes at the grassroots level, using both macro-level fiscal analysis and micro-level field evidence.
A key strand of my research examines rural livelihoods, employment, and poverty dynamics, including the effectiveness of social protection schemes, education and health financing, and decentralised governance mechanisms. I also engage with issues of public finance, especially the design, allocation, and utilisation of development funds in tribal and rural areas.
My work on climate resilience explores the economic impacts of environmental change on vulnerable communities and the role of sustainable livelihoods, indigenous practices, and climate-responsive public policy in building long-term resilience and inclusive growth.
My work in Quantitative Methods emphasizes rigorous empirical analysis to inform development research and public policy. I specialize in sampling design, large-scale household and village surveys, and the construction of reliable primary datasets for rural and tribal contexts. This includes multi-stage, stratified, and cluster sampling tailored to geographically and socially diverse populations. I apply econometric modelling to analyse livelihoods, welfare outcomes, public finance, and policy impacts, combining descriptive statistics with regression-based and impact assessment techniques. I also focus on data visualisation and dashboards, translating complex datasets into clear charts, maps, and interactive tools that support evidence-based decision-making for researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners.