Dr. Santosh Kumar is Professor of Public Administration. He was awarded Doctorate in Politics from JNU, New Delhi on the topic “Theory and Practice of Federalism in USSR since 1985”. He was awarded UGC- sponsored JRF and SRF in Political Science, and visited IREES, Department of Political Science, University of Glasgow on a short-term Fellowship to complete his doctoral thesis. Prior to joining SLS-PDPU, he has taught as in the School of Rural Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and Post Graduate Programme of Development Sector at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), Ahmedabad, with total teaching experience spanning to 14 years. He specializes in Development Politics and has wide-ranging experiences in teaching and training from the grass roots to policy advocacy.

He is member of the International team of resource persons associated with the World Bank Institute on various Social Accountability Tools viz. Social Audit, Community Score Cards, Citizen’s Report Cards, Citizen’s Charter, etc. In this capacity, he has been part of the team in implementing various Community Driven Development (CDD) Projects within the Macro Context of Human Development and Growth in association with the various state governments of India (Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, etc.), and Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh in South Asian. Dr. Kumar is a policy analyst in the context of Governance in the Development Sectors such as Local Self Governance, NREGA, Health including ICDS, Water and Sanitation, Education, Unorganized Labour, etc.

He is associated with a several national and international Universities and Development Organisations in various capacities, especially in South Asian countries. He has about four books, fifteen referred papers published in reputed journals, and several research and field action project reports to his credit. He is also on the advisory board of a number of academic institutions and professional bodies. He is currently working on his next publication on a Comparative Perspectives in Community Driven Development Approach in the South Asian Context.

Subject Area:
Public Policy and Public Administration

Specialization:
Decentralization and Good Governance, Social Accountability Mechanisms in the Service Delivery Context, Community-based monitoring and evaluations.

Research Interest:
Democratic Governance and Institutions of Development, Political Economy of Development and alternative paradigms (with special reference to Issues of Livelihood and Agrarian Crisis), Community Driven Development Approaches, Tools and Techniques and M & E frameworks for the development projects.