Research Interests
Primary: Political Economy, Ethnic Politics, Historical Sociology
Secondary: Education Policy, Policy Evaluation
Research Interests
Primary: Political Economy, Ethnic Politics, Historical Sociology
Secondary: Education Policy, Policy Evaluation
Published Papers
A micro-ethnographic study is done in a village using participatory research tools in order to highlight the patterns of public goods segregation and access. The factors influencing the social groups in their decision-making at the local level are also highlighted.
Working Papers
"Improving First-Generation College Students' Education and Employment Outcomes: Effect of a Targeted Scholarship Program" - with Soham Sahoo, IZA Discussion paper(2025)
We evaluate the First-Generation Graduate Scholarship scheme implemented in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which waives tuition fees for first-generation college students in technical education. Using household survey data in difference-in-differences (DiD) and synthetic DiD frameworks, we find substantial improvements in enrollment, stream choice, and graduation in technical courses, with downstream effects on regular employment, occupational choices, and household welfare. Male students gained more than female students. The scheme also increased reliance on education loans to cover residual costs. Our findings highlight how targeting intergenerational disadvantages through education policy can influence educational choices and produce positive labour market returns.
"Safer Among Their Own? Everyday Discrimination and Mental Health in Rural India" - with Allen P Ugargol, Parul Puri
Structural hierarchies such as race and caste shape chronic stress burdens by reinforcing everyday forms of social exclusion. While a growing body of research links everyday discrimination to mental health outcomes, its spatial patterning and relevance to later life remain underexplored. This study investigates how caste-based social hierarchies and local demographic structures jointly shape experiences of everyday discrimination and depressive symptoms among older adults in rural India. Using nationally representative data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (2017–2019), we analyse multivariate and multilevel models accounting for individual, household, and village characteristics. We find that individuals from marginalised caste groups report significantly higher levels of everyday discrimination and depressive symptoms compared to upper-caste groups. However, residing in villages where one's own caste group forms the numerical majority substantially reduces these adverse outcomes. Further analysis suggests that experiences of discrimination are associated with elevated depressive symptoms, indicating a possible pathway linking caste and mental health. These findings highlight the importance of local social context in shaping the psychosocial well-being of ageing populations.
Ongoing Projects
"India Lives in Her Hamlets: Asymmetric Caste Segregation in Rural India, with Deepak Malghan
``India lives in her villages'' is among the most globally known demographic adages. The village is the elementary spatial demographic unit in administrative praxis and sociological inquiries centered on rural India. However, intra-village segregation of residential space is an integral component of India's caste-based agrarian social order. The modal Indian village contains several perfectly segregated hamlets that are spatialized caste units. The Indian state now collects demographic data at the hamlet level and targets public goods such as rural roads and drinking water at the hamlet rather than the village. We use the most comprehensive census-scale administrative data on hamlet caste composition from every district in India ($n \approx$ 1.7 million hamlets) to develop the first-ever nationwide portrait of intra-village caste segregation. We document significant asymmetries between how Dalits and ``upper'' caste residents experience segregation. Our analysis shows that, on average, Dalits (formerly ``untouchable'' caste groups) live in more diverse villages than ``touchable'' groups. We uncover how the marginalization and stigmatization of Dalit groups are related to intra-village rather than inter-village segregation. Our results force a rethink of India's elementary spatial unit of analysis and show how ``India lives in her [caste] hamlets'' rather than in her villages.
"The Political Economy of Intra-Village Segregation" - with Deepak Malghan
We use a quantitative empirical framework to study the contemporary nexus between caste segregation, agrarian political economy, local public goods politics, and socio-economic inequities. Using meticulously obtained independent India's first-ever census of street-level public goods and street-level caste demography (covering every single rural habitation in Tamil Nadu), we study the political and economic consequences of intra-village segregation. Currently, the village is the highest resolution at which the political economy of public goods is studied. However, spatial inequality in public goods placements and access within a village is widely recognized as the most important locus of local public goods politics.