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Applied Sociologist, with 5 years of interdisciplinary quantitative and qualitative research, as well as project management and teaching/training experience in the social sciences; at both field and policy level working closely with national and international research institutions, academic institutes, NGOS, Donors and Governments. Education PhD (Economics and Sociology), (2004 – 2008). Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute for Technology (IIT), Bombay (Thesis submitted August 2008) Thesis topic: Livelihood insecurities in the rural Semi Arid Tropics of Andhra Pradesh – A focus on Labor Migration and HIV Risk Behavior. Brief description: This thesis is an attempt to understand the complex livelihood dynamics of rural households in the semi arid tropics of Andhra Pradesh. The focus being rural to urban migration of labor and assessing its role in influencing HIV risk behavior among rural households in the Semi Arid Tropics (SAT). The context in which this was done is the fragile landscape of the semi arid tropics: engulfed by lack of safety nets and climatic disadvantages such as water scarcity, where the poorest of the poor live on conditions of persistent drought, subsistence agriculture and poor access to markets. Data was collected using the 30 year panel data of ICRISAT, Hyderabad; State AIDS control society datasets as well as extensive field level data collection. The thesis used both qualitative and quantitative tools. A book chapter and research paper series from the thesis has been published so far, through UNU –WIDER. This research was done in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). MSW, 2003 Department of Social Work, Madras Christian College, affiliated to the University of Madras. Specializing in community development and social research. Received the department Gold Medal for community development specialization topper. BA Degree in English Literature. 2000. Madras Christian College, affiliated to the University of Madras (May 2000) UGC – NET in Social work. 2006. passed the University Grants Commission of India’s, National Eligibility Test for Lectureship in Social Sciences Research Interests Rural and urban Livelihoods, Labor migration, Gender sensitive approaches to research, NRM based technologies and their social impacts. Vulnerable populations and fragile landscapes, Social impacts of HIV/AIDS, Poverty Reduction, Policy analysis, Social Protection, Agriculture and Health linkages and Human Rights. Academic Interests Rural Sociology, Livelihood analysis, Development Economics, Rural Economy, Rural Institutions, Quantitative and qualitative research methodology. Work Experience Consultant, for the ELDIS project of the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex Roles and responsibilities: Editing and reviewing journal articles and research papers submitted to ELDIS for wider dissemination. (September 1st 2008 till date) Fellow. RMMRU-DRC (Refugees and Migratory Movements Research Unit-Development Research Center). Universities of Dhaka and Sussex. Was selected for the fellowship to assess the livelihood impacts of HIV/AIDS in the semi arid tropics, with a Gender lens. (August 15th 2008 till date) Consultant – Urban Agricultural Policy, International Water Management Institute Roles and responsibilities: Drafting a policy paper on Urban Agriculture for Poverty Alleviation and Livelihood generation in India. Involved in secondary as well as primary data collection. Secondary data analysis from National Sample Survey and primary data by interviewing government officials at policy levels in the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to understand their awareness and willingness to contribute to Urban and Peri Urban Agriculture. (May 2008 to August 2008, short term consultancy) Consultant, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay Roles and responsibilities: Set up a UNDP-UNFCCC funded project on Vulnerability to Climate change: A study on marginalized groups and their adaptability to climate change risks. Involved in developing a livelihoods and vulnerability index, training of research assistants, preparing qualitative as well as quantitative research methodology for extensive field work in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. (May - August 2008, short term consultancy) August 2007 – August 2008 Consultant Human Development Network, Social Protection Unit (HDNSP), The World Bank. Lead researcher for the qualitative research team for South India for a study entitled “Addressing Extreme Poverty in Low Income Countries: Balancing Prevention and Protection”. This component is a part of a three-country study (India, Nicaragua and Ethiopia) conducted in collaboration with University of Oxford. Drawing on existing panel data (ICRISAT’s Village Level Studies) and findings from primary qualitative data, the study examines the hypothesis that ex ante and ex post risk management strategies vary significantly according to the socio-cultural and public services contexts; and that effective programming relies on recognition and appropriate planning for specific settings. The focus was on identifying livelihood strategies, policies, programs and technologies that help poor households cope with unforeseen events such as climatic shocks, and thus prevent them from descending into extreme poverty, as well as more focus on addressing structural factors that create barriers to upward mobility. The study focuses on the factors that affect both and men and women. Roles and responsibilities: Lead researcher for south India: involved in all stages of the research process; Development and field testing of qualitative research instruments, Development of research manual to be used in all three country studies. Selection and training of research assistants. Managing the budget and fund allocation for each activity Direct supervision and participation in the intensive fieldwork using qualitative research tools in six case study (ICRISAT’s VLS) villages. Analysis of data and write up of India Case study report. Collaborate and contribute for final paper along with quantitative team (University of Oxford) June 2005 to May 2007 Research Scholar, Global Theme on Institutions, Markets, Policy and Impacts, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Roles and responsibilities: Based at ICRISAT to for data collection in ICRISAT’s Village Level Study (VLS) villages. Involved in designing of research methodology, pilot visits, and partner visits, proposal development for other studies, extensive field work, as well as data analysis and write up. In addition to PhD work, was also involved in assisting the Global Theme Leader in preparing research proposals, donor reports and project reports. July 2004 to May 2005 Research scholar, Department of Humanities and Social sciences, IIT Bombay. Roles and responsibilities: Completed course work for PhD. Teaching assistant to Dr Parthasarathy, taught elective courses for BTech and MTech students, subjects taught was Research methods in social sciences. Conducted training workshops for college teachers on gender mainstreaming. Conducted research on socio economic status of workers in small mines. Aug 2003 to June 2004 Scientific Officer, Global Theme on SAT Futures and Development Pathways, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics, (ICRISAT). Roles and responsibilities: Involved in an FAO sponsored study entitled “Gender Dimensions in NRM technology adoption and build up of Social Capital”. This particularly focused on the Gender and social capital element in the Sustainable livelihood framework and how it can be harnessed to strengthen other forms of capital. It was an impact assessment project of NRM based ground nut production technology. Study looked at the social Impacts of this technology and documented technological and social innovations of farm households. I was involved in identifying the social impacts of Groundnut Production Technology (GPT) uptake, by systematically documenting the process by which farmers – both men and women - as well as the whole community became empowered through the build-up of social capital which facilitated access to resources, information and technology. My strong qualitative research skills have helped attempt to ‘connect’ the ‘unconnected’ and bring them into mainstream development, which was in line with ICRISAT vision to 2010 and contributed to its policy formulation. Involved in all stages of the project Participation in designing the research methodology and research tools Data collection, analysis, reporting and publication. Co wrote the script for the video output from the project entitled. “Together we sow, Together we reap”. Publication of Impact series. March to July 2003 Research Intern Global Theme on SAT Futures and Development Pathways, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics, (ICRISAT). Roles and responsibilities: Involved in conducting Poverty Impact Case Study, with specific regards to Migration and Social Capital in Andhra Pradesh. (March – July 2003). This internship report was cited in the ODI‘s “Written Evidence for the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health, on Population Growth: Impact on the Millennium Development Goals. This can be accessed online at: http://www.appg-popdevrh.org.uk/Publications/PopulationHearings/Evidence/India-andhrapradesh.doc 2001 to 2003 Training consultant to the Tamil Nadu Police Personnel in Mainstreaming Gender / Gender Sensitization in their work environment as part of a Tamil Nadu Government Initiative in 2001-2002. Training was through street theatre, puppetry and lectures. Other short-term consultancies Consultant for the National AIDS Control Project- Phase III, stakeholder consultation on Social impact of HIV/AIDS on tribals, held in New Delhi, hosted by RCSHA, CDC and World Bank. June 2006 Involved in identifying and suggesting key points to be incorporated in the NACP Phase III, contributed in linking rural livelihoods and Health in the report. Report can be accessed at: http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/aids/resource/res-01-150506-01.pdf Consultant to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Resource centre for Urban Agriculture and Food security (RUAF). October 2005. Trained the trainers at the workshop for Multi-stakeholder Processes for Action Planning and Policy Design (MPAP). The training was on “Gender Mainstreaming in Training and Monitoring & Evaluation” and “Gender in Urban and Peri urban agriculture”. The training materials developed and presented can be accessed at: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/southasia/ruaf/CD/s26b.pps http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/southasia/ruaf/CD/s26a.pps Significant Publications B. Valentine Joseph Gandhi, M. Cynthia Serquina Bantilan and Devanathan Parthasarathy. Livelihood risk from HIV in the semi arid tropics of rural Andhra Pradesh. UNU-WIDER Research Paper series No. 49/2008 (Available online: http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/working-papers/research-papers/2008/en_GB/rp2008-49/) Gandhi BVJ, Bantilan MCS and Parthasarathy D. (In press). Livelihood risk to HIV risk in the semi arid tropics of rural Andhra Pradesh": Fragile States and Fragile Groups in the Global Economy: How to Tackle Economic and Social Vulnerability" United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) Publications. Book Chapter (under review). Gandhi BVJ, Bantilan MCS and Parthasarathy D. 2007. Livelihood risk to HIV risk in the semi arid tropics of rural Andhra Pradesh. Paper presented at the UNU – WIDER conference on “Fragile States and Fragile Groups” to be held at Helsinki, Finland, June 15 – 16 2007. Pp.50 Conference Paper Padmaja R, Bantilan MCS, Parthasarathy D and Gandhi BVJ. 2006 Gender and Social Capital Mediated Technology Adoption, Impact Series no 12, ICRISAT, Patancheru. PP. 44. Impact series. Bantilan MCS, Gandhi BVJ and Padmaja R. Social analysis: useful concepts in understanding poverty. Social Analysis Series 1. Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India: Global theme on SAT Futures and Development Pathways, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. (Limited distribution.) Gandhi BVJ, Bantilan MCS and Parthasarathy D. 2006. Mobility and risk behavior in the semi arid tropics of rural Andhra Pradesh. Conference Paper, presented at the All India Sociological Conference on Science Technology and Society, Chennai. December 2006. pp 30. Conference Paper Gandhi BVJ and Bantilan MCS. 2006. Dynamics of Risk Behavior and spread of the HIV epidemic in the semi arid tropics of India – insights from Bhongir and Kolar. Progress Report 140. Global Theme on Institutions, Markets, Policy and Impacts. ICRISAT, Patancheru. Pp. 35. Progress report (Limited distribution). Padmaja R, Bantilan MCS and Gandhi BVJ. 2004. Gender dimensions in social capital formation with implications for technology transfer. Paper presented at the FAO Expert Consultation on Gender Dimensions in Asian Rice Livelihood Systems in Changing Milieu of Technologies and Economy, 9–12 March 2004, Bangkok, Thailand. Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. 37 pp. Conference Paper Bantilan MCS, Padmaja R, Parthasarathy D, Balakrishnan R and Gandhi BVJ. 2003. Social analysis: gender and social capital mediated technology adoption. Synthesis report of the workshop on Social Analysis, 17–18 July 2003, ICRISAT, Patancheru, India. pp.52 Workshop report. Gandhi BVJ (2003), Social Capital and Migration: a study on pathways of development in Dokur village, Presented at the workshop on “Social Analysis in Assessing gender-related impacts of NRM options focusing on build-up of social capital,” (July 17-18), ICRISAT, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Pp.45. Internship report/Conference Paper Padmaja R, Bantilan MCS, Parthasarathy D, Balakrishnan R and Gandhi BVJ. 2004 Gender and social capital mediated technology adoption. ICRISAT-FAO collaborative research report. Phra Atit, Bangkok: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. 40 pp. Research report. Gandhi BVJ. 2003, Socioeconomic characteristics of the Migrant workers of the Lambadi Tribe. Madras Christian College, Madras University. Masters Thesis report. Gandhi BVJ, Ninan P John. 2002. Human rights and Hunger. Concept Paper for the National Conference on Human rights and Hunger. Department of Social work. Madras Christian College. University of Madras. Pp. 30. Concept Paper. Skill sets Computers Excellent knowledge of Windows based and Linux based systems and Office software, SPSS 14. STATA, ARC View GIS and Flash 5. Use of visual tools in teaching and training. Communication Excellent communication skills (written and oral), experience in scientific writing, research proposals, concept notes, research reports, scripts for social documentaries. Power points and conference papers and training materials. Experience in working with cross-cultural teams in ICRISAT, IIT Bombay and networking through the web for resource exchange. Languages Known: Hindi, English, Tamil – Fluent Telegu, Malayalam, Marathi and German – Mid level French – currently learning Other Qualifications Human Participants Protection Education for Research Teams online certification, from the National Institutes of Health, US Government. March 2007 Completed Certificate Course on Human Rights from the Institute of Human Rights of VIGIL India Movement, Bangalore. September 2001 Underwent Business Communication Training a certificate course from Holistic Enterprise, a Delhi-based HR Training Firm, July 2000 INTERNEXXT Course from Software Solutions Integrated (SSI) covering, VB, ASP, XML, WAP, BLUETOOTH, .NET, VB Script, Database, HTML & Oracle. May 2000 Awards fellowships Global competition Fellowship on Migration studies from RMMRU-DRC, Bangladesh (2008). PhD dissertation write up fellowship from Sociologists without Borders (2008) PhD research fellowship from June 2005 till May 2007. From the Global Theme on Institutions, Markets, Policies and Impacts theme of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics, awarded to complete PhD. Department Special Prize and Gold Medal from the Department of Social Work, Madras Christian College for overall topper in community development specialization. Overall Best performer cup for the year 2002 – 2003, Department of social work, Madras Christian College. Internships* I year MSW (two semesters): September 2001 – March 2002 Placed in The Banyan (a residential care center for the mentally ill women) as intern, for seven months as part of fieldwork. Was involved in conducting Case studies, Group Work, Referrals, Documentation, Fund-raising, and organized awareness programmes. II Year MSW (3rd Semester): July 2002 – October 2002 Placed in the Social Action Movement (SAM). The S.A.M. is an agency that works with the grassroots level people promoting their empowerment and development through use of their traditional skills and knowledge. Organizing people’s unions, and providing a platform for them to voice their concerns to the authorities concerned and setting up business solutions for them. Involved in forming Self-Help Groups. Giving Leadership Training and Confidence Building for Self-Help Women’s Groups and rural farmers. . Training the Pre-school Teachers and Animators (employed in the neighboring village schools run by S.A.M). Training the members of the various unions - Washer men’s Union, Irula Union (a marginalized tribal community) in vocational skills and enhancing their existing skills. Assisting the Family Counselor at the Family Counseling Center at the S.A.M in dealing with legal issues arising in village families. Involved in organizing community awareness programmes, promotion of indigenous knowledge. II Year MSW (4th Semester): November 2002 – February 2002 Placed in the Y.R. Gaitonde Center for AIDS Research and Education, an Urban Community Health Setting. Involved in conducting Focus Group Discussions. Training & Evaluation of Field Ethnographers. HIV & AIDS Awareness Campaigns and training programmes. Research on recent trends on AIDS Awareness among alcoholics. *These internships were a university requirement to be done for minimum 15 hours a week. Extracurricular activities Founder and Moderator, The Development CAFÉ, an e – forum that facilitates exchange of ideas and dissemination of knowledge resources relating to the development sector. The group facilitates constant interaction of Governments, NGOs, NARS, CG systems, UN bodies, farmers, rural households, Civil Society Organizations to facilitate dialogue and exchange of mutually beneficial knowledge and information. Since 2001 till date. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_development_Cafe www.thedevelopmentcafe.org Web resources editor for: Indian Sociological Society: www.insosorc01.co.nr Sociologists without borders (SSF): www.sociologistswithoutborders.com SSF Think Tank: www.ssfthinktank.org Member, Board of Studies for Social Work Curriculum, Department of Social Work, Madras Christian College April 2003. Assisted in organizing the National Study Conference on Human Rights and Hunger, October 2002, organized by the Department of social work in liaison University Grants Commission. Overall coordinator of the conference. Assisted in organizing the National Study Conference on Human Rights and Refugees, October 2001, organized by the Department of social work in liaison with the UNHCR. Involved in the Program committee, Finance and the Documentation committee. Involved in HIV/AIDS awareness, through Street Plays in a Koovagam village under the project of World Vision India, during new-moon day festival every month. 2001-2002 Officer in N.C.C. of the Indian Navy, during under Graduation. Cleared ‘C’ Certificate. 1997 – 2000. References: Dr. Valerie Kozel, Senior Economist, Social Risk Management -- Human Development Network World Bank -- 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC Phone: 1-202-458-1408, vkozel@worldbank.org Dr. D Parthasarathy, Professor of Sociology, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Powai, Mumbai – 400 076, Phone – 91 – 22 – 25768372, ben.dp@iitb.ac.in Dr. Stefan Dercon, Professor of Development Economics, University of Oxford, 23-38 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford, OX1 2ET,Tel: 01865 616041,Fax: 01865 616017, stefan.dercon@economics.ox.ac.uk Dr. Ma. Cynthia S Bantilan, Principal Economist and Global Theme Leader, International Crops Research Institute for Semi – Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad - 502 324, Phone: 91 – 40 – 30713517, c.bantilan@cgiar.org Dr. Pierre Fallavier. Urban Planning Advisor, UN-Habitat Afghanistan. Phone: +93 (0)700 16 1120 pierre.fallavier@unhabitat-afg.org
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