Krithi, Kalpana Karunakaran, J Jeyalydia, R Parthesarathy and T Sundararaman (2022) Discourses around Stigma and Denial in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study from Tamil Nadu, Economic and Political Weekly, LVII (57) (4):34-39. Kalpana (2017) Women, Microfinance and the State in Neo-liberal India, London and New York: Routledge. Role included helping to consolidate a financially self-reliant district wide federated structure of SHGs and designing leadership and capacity-building programmes for group coordinators.

1997 – 1998: Coordinator of a federation of 1500 Self Help Groups (SHGs) promoted by Tamil Nadu Science Forum in Kanyakumari district.

Also coordinated a state-wide campaign that involved action research studies and public audits of the public health sector and people’s health status in Tamil Nadu. During this period, I coordinated a UNICEF supported project to build a trained community-based health activist force in select districts of Tamil Nadu.

1998 – 2001: Core Faculty of Centre for Ecology and Rural Development (CERD) & Pondicherry Science Forum (PSF) under Core Grant Scheme of Science & Society Division, Dept of Science & Technology, Govt.

January 2003 – December 2007: Co-investigator of project titled ‘Women’s Technology Park’, Puducherry, implemented by Centre for Ecology and Rural Development (CERD) and supported by Department of Women and Child Welfare and Dept of Science & Technology, GOI.

Also involved in conceptualizing and leading qualitative field work in a project to review the design, implementation and impacts of World Bank funded irrigation investments in India. Experience as team leader of a qualitative study in a pilot village of World Bank-financed and Tamil Nadu government-implemented scheme for social empowerment and poverty reduction.

September 2008 – June 2010: Senior Researcher at Centre for Development Finance (CDF) of IFMR, Chennai.

July 2010 – September 2019: Assistant Professor, IIT Madras.

October 2019 – Present: Associate Professor, IIT Madras.

Teaching as guest lecturer at the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) Chennai.

State, Civil Society and Service Provision (taught at IFMR, Chennai, 2009).Perspectives in Social Sciences Decentralization and Governance Women in India: Problems and Prospects (ongoing courses offered in IIT Madras).Models of state-civil society collaboration in service delivery.Critical analysis of state-sponsored livelihood / poverty alleviation initiatives.Gender and development / Women’s studies.

B.A Economics, Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai.

M.A History, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

from the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Chennai.

Haunted by Fire by Mythily Sivaraman