Assam Don Bosco University— Faculty Profile
Qualification:
PhD (IIT Guwahati)
My research lies at the intersection of governance, development, public policy and marginalisation. I examine how states, institutions and communities respond to social, environmental, geopolitical and technological transformations, with particular attention to their consequences for marginalised and vulnerable populations.
My scholarship is organised around six interconnected research programmes: (1) Governance, Public Policy and Accountability; (2) Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development; (3) Borders, Ethnicity, Conflict and State–Society Relations; (4) Gender, Society and Inclusive Development; (5) Artificial Intelligence, Digital Governance and the Future of the State and Society; and (6) Indian Indigenous Knowledge Systems.
My research focuses empirically on North East India and the wider South and Southeast Asian borderland region, where questions of ethnicity, borders, development, conflict, environmental change, identity, indigenous knowledge, and state–society relations intersect in distinctive ways. I am particularly interested in how indigenous communities' knowledge traditions, cultural practices, ecological wisdom and customary institutions contribute to sustainable development, community resilience and alternative approaches to governance.
Methodologically, I specialise in qualitative, interpretive and mixed-method research, including field-based case studies, interviews, ethnography, content analysis, comparative research and community-centred approaches.
Across these research programmes, my scholarship centres on how governance can become more accountable, inclusive, participatory, and responsive in societies experiencing marginalisation and rapid ecological, geopolitical, and technological change. This includes examining how indigenous knowledge systems can inform contemporary public policy, environmental governance, sustainable development and community-centred approaches to addressing social and ecological challenges.
My long-term research agenda therefore seeks to connect local experiences of governance and indigenous knowledge with wider debates on development, democracy, sustainability, borderlands, gender, technology and global change.
Research Clusters and Major Components
I. Governance, Public Policy and Development
Governance, accountability, institutions, public policy, politics, decentralisation, participation, administrative reforms, public service delivery and institutional responsiveness.
II. Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development
Environmental governance, climate justice, sustainability, community resilience, natural-resource governance, biodiversity conservation, traditional ecological knowledge and community-based environmental management.
III. Identity, Borders, Conflict and Marginalisation
Ethnicity, identity, borders, conflict, peace, displacement, social exclusion, indigenous communities, borderland societies and state–society relations.
IV. Gender, Society and Inclusive Development
Women, gender, social exclusion, empowerment, livelihoods, intersectionality, women's leadership, gender-responsive governance and inclusive development.
V. Technology, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Governance
AI governance, digital government, algorithmic accountability, digital inequality, AI and public policy, technological transformation of the state and inclusive digital governance.
VI. Indian Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Indigenous knowledge traditions, traditional ecological knowledge, customary institutions, indigenous governance systems, community-based resource management, cultural heritage, oral
Research Experience: 12 Years