Author: Ishwar Chandra Awasthi

Balwant Singh Mehta is ‘Fellow’ at the Institute for Human Development, Delhi. He obtained his Ph D (Development Economics) from Jamia  Milia  Islamia, New Delhi and postdoctoral from the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi. His research interests include issues in employment, unemployment, gender, child wellbeing, poverty, inequality, and information and communications technologies for development (ICT4D). He has published five books and 45 articles in professional journals. In recognition of his contributions, he has been selected as an ‘Amy Mahan International Fellow’ by the UPF, Spain; awarded a Research Fellowship in ICT4D by SIRCA, Singapore; and selected as an ‘Emerging Researcher’ by the IDRC, Canada. He also writes regular columns in magazines, blogs and newspapers on nation-relevant issues. Ishwar Chandra Awasthi is Professor at the Institute for Human Development (IHD), Delhi. He obtained his Ph D (Economics) from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmadabad). He also took part in the International Programme for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) organized by the World Bank and Carleton University in Ottawa (Canada). Currently active in the areas of labour, employment and livelihood issues, human resource planning and development evaluation, he has published more than three dozen papers in professional journals and published a book titled ‘Livelihood Diversities in Mountain Economy: Constraints and Opportunities’ (Concept Publishing Company, 2012). He has two co-authored and three edited books to his credit. He has presented papers at various national and international conferences. He is the Honorary Secretary of the Indian Society of Labour Economics, and serves as Managing Editor of the IASSI (Indian Association of Social Science Institutions) quarterly, Contributions to Indian Social Science.