State of Working India 2023

Amit Basole is Professor of Economics at Azim Premji University where he also heads the Centre for Sustainable Employment. He teaches courses in Development Economics and Political Economy. His research interests include employment, structural change, and artisanal economies. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Yamini Atmavilas is a gender sector leader with a track record of building impactful partnerships in the philanthropic, public and social sectors for advancing gender justice. Yamini is currently President, The Udaiti Foundation that works on women’s employment, entrepreneurship and agency.   Previously, she led portfolios on Women’s Economic Empowerment Programs, What Works Initiatives, and Health Systems Research & Evaluation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Sowmya is a Senior Research Fellow at Good Business Lab and an Assistant Professor of Economics (currently on leave) at Madras School of Economics. Sowmya has worked on issues related to women’s education and labour market participation, domestic violence, and limited spatial mobility. In her current role as Senior Fellow at Good Business Lab, she works on women’s labour market attachment, health and overall well-being and financial inclusion in the garment industry. She has published in journals like World Development, Feminist Economics, Journal of Policy Modelling, Cities, Health Policy and Planning. She has also received grants from World Bank, Conservation of Food and Health Foundation, Emergent Ventures, Azim Premji University etc.

Kalaiyarasan A. is an Assistant Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India, and a Visiting Research fellow at Kings College London, He was previously a visiting Assistant Professor and Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Fellow at the Watson Institute for International and PublicAffairs, Brown University, and was also a research faculty at the National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development, a research wing of NITI Aayog (Planning Commission), Government of India. His academic interest lies in regional political economy, structural inequalities and comparative political economy in global south.  His recent publications are The Dravidian Model: Interpreting Political Economy of Tamil Nadu (Cambridge University Press 2021, co- authored) and Rethinking Social Justice (Orient Blackswan 2020 co-editor).

Divya is Co-Founder and Director- Knowledge and Policy at Work Fair and Free Foundation. Conceived and incubated by Aajeevika Bureau, WFF is a knowledge institution driven by a commitment to advance worker-centric knowledge and action, so that informal labour migration can become more secure and dignified. Divya has long years of experience in policy analysis, advocacy and research, non-profit strategy, management and fund-raising. She has  made representations on the issue in several national and international fora, including at the Niti Ayog where she was a member of the sub-committee on labour migration. Divya is a recipient of many prestigious fellowships including the Fulbright- Nehru Fellowship for Leadership Development, Joint- Japan World Bank Scholarship and the Open Society Fellowship for Rights and Governance.

Rosa is Assistant Professor of Economics at Azim Premji University. Her research focuses on informal work and women’s employment with particular interest in issues at the intersection of labour statistics and women’s work.  She is a part of the Centre for Sustainable Employment and has been an author in its flagship State of Working India reports. She was a member of the Kerala State Planning Board 2021 sub-committee on Women and Employment.