Scholars

Indira Gandhi Scholar reading for a DPhil in Criminology (Matric Year: 2025)

Neetika is a candidate for the DPhil in Criminology at the University of Oxford. She is currently on sabbatical from her role as Director – Criminalisation and Punishment at The Square Circle Clinic, a criminal justice initiative at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, India.

Since 2017, along with three others, Neetika co-led Project 39A and its subsequent transition to The Square Circle Clinic, playing a key role in its evolution into one of India’s foremost centres for pro bono criminal defence litigation and cutting-edge criminal justice research. Neetika has led significant research studies on criminal justice issues in India, with a particular focus on the death penalty, sentencing, and sexual offences.

She is trained as a lawyer in India and holds graduate degrees in law and women’s studies from Harvard Law School and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, respectively.

Indira Gandhi Scholar reading for a DPhil in Clinical Medicine (Matric Year: 2022)

Ashish’s research examines how health system adaptations to climate change can be both effective and just, with a particular focus on primary healthcare delivery and the role of community health workers.

Situated at the intersection of health, climate change, philosophy, and social justice, his work seeks to advance a framework for ensuring that the benefits and burdens of adaptation are fairly distributed, leaving no one behind.

He brings over eight years of experience in global health research and practice. He is currently the Research Manager for the Wellcome Trust–funded Global Health Solidarity Project in the Indian subcontinent. He is also part of an interdisciplinary team funded by the British Academy, working on the development of a Just Transitions framework for antimicrobial resistance. Alongside his research, he serves as a Teaching Fellow at the University of Oxford’s MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine programme. Previously, he worked with the Piramal Foundation, where he contributed to strategising the Tribal Health Collaborative—a multi-stakeholder initiative of the Piramal Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

He holds an MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine (with distinction) from the University of Oxford and a Master’s in Health Administration from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Indira Gandhi Scholar reading for the MSc in Sustainability Enterprise and the Environment (Matric year: 2024)

Ashima Gulati is a lawyer by training and a policy consultant with over eight years of experience in India’s public policy sector, working at the intersection of education, healthcare, and climate change to improve the well-being of marginalised communities.

She began her career in capital markets law before moving into public policy to engage more directly with India’s socio-economic and environmental challenges. Her journey has included two years teaching in a government school in Delhi and co-founding a non-profit that leverages technology to strengthen climate resilience in vulnerable communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation supported over 75,000 people in accessing vaccinations, an effort for which she was nominated for India’s COVID Soldier Award. Over the years, she has collaborated with state governments, NGOs, and corporates to design and implement grassroots climate adaptation strategies.

Most recently, she graduated with a Master of Public Policy (MPP) at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and joined the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development to read for an MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment as an Indira Gandhi Scholar.

Indira Gandhi-Radhakrishnan Scholar reading for the MSc in Modern South Asian Studies (Matric year: 2025)

Abi Mor is from Nagaland, India and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi with a B.A. in Philosophy.

After her undergraduate degree, she went on to complete the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University. Her research interests include how colonial and missionary narratives have shaped and continue to shape Indigenous and minority identities. She hopes to centre Indigenous knowledge systems in both scholarship and public discourse.

Amansa Scholar reading for an MSc in Environmental Change and Management (Matric year: 2025)

Parikshit has worked in the field of disaster management for five years at the intersection of research, policy, and implementation before joining the University of Oxford.

Born and brought up in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, he graduated as an architect from Savitribai Phule Pune University and contributed to research publications at VNIT Nagpur.

He has worked on projects funded by the American Red Cross and the Global Disaster Preparedness Center (GDPC), and later supported the Government of Maharashtra with the Palladium Group on climate and disaster resilience. His work includes developing SOPs for heatwaves, floods, and lightning, establishing Emergency Operations Centers, designing Early Warning Systems, ensuring last-mile dissemination, and preparing Heat Action Plans. 

Savitribai Phule Graduate Scholar reading for the MSc in Education (Higher Education) (Matric year: 2025)

Tejas serves as the Project Director at the Indian School for Leadership Studies, Yash Foundation and as a Professional Skills Facilitator at O.P. Jindal Global University. He is also a scholar at the Centre of Leadership and Change, Jindal School of Behavioural Sciences.

He holds a Bachelor’s in Technology (B.Tech.) in Food Technology from MIT University, Pune and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Army Institute of Management and Technology. He was awarded the Chief of Army Staff Best Student Trophy, the highest student honour during his postgraduate studies.

In his professional career, Tejas worked at the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Defence Institute of Psychological Research, Daikin Education and Skill Development Society and O.P. Jindal Global University, India. As a Strategist at Daikin, Tejas was a part of the founding team to establish the Japan-India Institute of Manufacturing Excellence, an Indo-Japan government collaboration.

Tejas is a certified trainer in personality development, life skills and professional skills. He was awarded with the Flame Student Award in 2022 presented by the Rural Marketing Association of India for his contribution in Rural Educational Infrastructure Development in India. At Oxford, he aims to work towards his mission of building an institution rooted in leadership, ethics and values.

Dr Gita Piramal Graduate Scholar reading for the MSc in Evidence Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation (EBSIPE) (Matric year: 2025)

Tejashwari is passionate about researching parenting interventions to prevent violence against children. Before joining Oxford, she graduated with a Master’s in Public Health from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences where she was awarded the University Gold Medal.

Her Masters thesis focused on exploring factors associated with Undernutrition in children of a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group in India for which she received the Best Research Project Award. Tejashwari brings rich field experience through her work at Sambodhi Research and Communications, CEGIS and as a Teach For India Fellow, where she engaged directly with communities in several Indian states.

Cyril Shroff Scholar reading for the MSc in Evidence Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation (EBSIPE) (Matric year: 2025)

After having graduated from West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences with a Gold Medal, Rahul worked on public private partnerships in the infrastructure sector and corporate governance issues, including representing the Government of India appointed board in the case of Satyam Computers on various litigation, regulatory and enforcement matters in India and US arising out of the fraud.

He subsequently pivoted to work predominantly on child protection and education issues at Young Lives India, leading on several research and evaluation studies for UNICEF India, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, British Asian Trust amongst others. These studies have been published, and he has contributed to global publications, including the Routledge International Handbook of Child and Adolescent Grief in Contemporary Contexts.

Given his strong interest in the use of arts as a means of research enquiry, he pursued a Master’s Degree in Art and Culture graduating summa cum laude and has used participatory methods, including PhotoVoice and Comic Voice in large scale research studies to understand the lived experience of survivors of child trafficking and child marriage. These creative methodologies along with research reports for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights were used successfully to influence social policies, including his recent deposition before the Joint Parliamentary Standing Committee on age of marriage.

Within his broader practice on research and evaluation related to child protection issues, child labour is his area of keen research interest and one he wishes to pursue further. This builds on his rich body of work, including recently concluded study on “What Drives Changes in Child Labour and Schooling” for UNICEF Innocenti, which innovatively used Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP). This critical and timely study was also supported by short documentary films, capturing first hand insights from children and adolescents on the drivers of child labour, including social norms and systemic barriers which denied them their right to education.

Rahul aims to continue his research at Oxford and aims to pursue a DPhil/PhD to explore his research further.

Elizabeth Moir Scholar reading for the MSc in Water Science Policy and Management (Matric year: 2025)

Ravi Shankar Shukla is an IAS officer from the 2012 batch, currently serving in the Jharkhand cadre. He is a gold medallist in LL.B. (Hons.) from the University of Lucknow and also in LL.M. from the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru. He has been a Linnaeus-Palme Exchange scholar at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, where he studied water governance.

He has served as Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate in districts of Latehar, Hazaribagh, East Singhbhum, Dumka, and Saraikela-Kharsawan in Jharkhand. He also served as the Mission Director of the National Health Mission (NHM) in Jharkhand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He played a crucial role in securing the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Sohrai painting, which was the first recognition of its kind for Jharkhand. His work in implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission earned him several awards from the Government of India and he also represented the Government at the 2019 World Water Week in Stockholm.

During his tenure as Deputy Commissioner of Dumka district, he established and organized the Dumka State Library Literature Festival twice, reviving a seventy-year-old Mobile Library in recognition of the Santhal Praganas’ literary history. He led the Land Record Modernization Program in the Dumka district, which earned the district an award from the Honorable President of India.

He has received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Administration 2024 for his outstanding work in the Aspirational Blocks Program. At Oxford, Ravi will be focusing on water sustainability, environmental governance, public policy, and global economic and political development. His goal is to apply the lessons learned to promote sustainable development in India and the state of Jharkhand.

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar reading for the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) (Matric year: 2025)

Pulkit holds a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) from the National Law University, Delhi, where they graduated at the top of their class, and are now reading for the Bachelor of Civil Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford.

Their academic interests lie at the intersection of constitutional and criminal law, with a particular focus on fair trial rights in Indian constitutional jurisprudence. Pulkit has worked with leading institutions including the Office of the Chief Justice of India and Project 39A, where they assisted in defending death-row prisoners before the Supreme Court, developed accountability frameworks for custodial deaths, and contributed to critical reforms in criminal procedure. Their publications span human rights, criminal law reform, and constitutional interpretation, combining rigorous legal analysis with a strong ethical commitment to equity and justice.

At Oxford, they plan to deepen their expertise in human rights, constitutional law, and legal theory, equipping themselves to shape legal education and reform in India. Beyond their academic and professional commitments, Pulkit enjoys reading and writing poetry.

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar reading for the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) (Matric year: 2025)

Dayaar will be reading for the BCL as the Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar. He received his B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad (2021) where he graduated as the University Best All Round Student with 3 Gold Medals.

He started his career with the Tech, Media & Telecom (TMT) Practice Group at Trilegal after which he served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the then Chief Justice of India Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and the e-Committee, Supreme Court of India. Since 2023, he has been practising in Delhi in the Chambers of Ritin Rai, Senior Advocate (Door Tenant, 7 KBW). Dayaar also serves as a Senior Editor for India’s oldest public law blog, Law and Other Things.

Amansa Scholar reading for a DPhil in Geography and the Environment (Matric year: 2024)

Indira Gandhi Scholar reading for a DPhil in Chemistry (Matric year: 2024)

Amansa Scholar reading for an MSc in Water Science Policy and Management (Matric year: 2024)

Savitribai Phule Scholar reading for an MSc in Global Health Science and Epidemiology (Matric year: 2024)

Indira Gandhi Scholar reading for a DPhil in Law (Matric year: 2022)

Former Cornelia Sorabji Scholar (2022)

Ishani is a candidate for the D.Phil. in Law at Somerville College. Her doctoral research aims to evaluate the present paradigm on disability-selective abortions in India and develop an ‘indigenous’ normative and legal framework for governing such abortion in India. In contrast to sex-selective abortions, which are prohibited in India, disability-selective abortions are positively sanctioned under the Indian legislative and judicial framework. She seeks to underline how the present paradigm reduces women to ‘gatekeepers of perfection’ and disregards the State’s duty of non-discrimination and reasonable accommodation towards disabled people. Given the unique context of evolution of reproductive rights and disability rights in India, she will attempt to highlight the limitations of Western intellectual tradition and develop an ‘Indian’ framework to address this debate in India. In doing so, she will endeavour to fill a theoretical gap in Indian feminist and disability-rights scholarship and make appropriate recommendations for legal reforms.

Ishani is keenly interested in analysing rights-based frameworks through feminist and critical legal scholarship and undertaking comparative and inter-disciplinary study of human rights and corresponding State obligations. Prior to the DPhil, Ishani read on the Bachelor of Civil Law programme at the University of Oxford as a Cornelia Sorabji Scholar. She opted for public law courses, like Medical Law and Ethics and Comparative Equality Law. She also graduated with the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) degree from Jindal Global Law School, India.

Indira Gandhi Scholar reading for a DPhil in Chemistry (Matric year: 2023)

Indira Gandhi Scholar reading for a DPhil in Geography and the Environment (Matric year: 2022)

Medha currently examines the intersections of politics, public policy, governance and finance in the delivery of essential services, such as safe drinking water to every household in rural India. Focusing on inequalities and intersectionality, she is interested in how inclusive and sustainable outcomes can be reached through national, state and individual choices. Gathering extensive and in-depth empirical evidence is a critical component of her work. She grounds her academic research in the lived experiences and narratives of communities, institutional decision-makers, political leaders and anyone in between. 

Growing up in India, Medha has been sensitized to the juxtaposition of excess and inadequacy, in both rural and urban settings. Travelling across India’s diverse landscape, particularly the Himalaya, has shaped her perception of the delicate balance that exists between humans and the natural world. Her study of the Ethics and the Classics, as an English Literature undergraduate, has been pivotal in informing her research interests. Her five-year background as a writer in the film industry, especially for documentaries, contributes to her diverse methods which include photo-documentation, semi-structured interviews, surveys, multi-sited ethnography and archival research. She remains a strong advocate of transcending disciplinary boundaries, and is happy to engage in any discussion, academic and beyond, to further inclusivity.

Qualifications

• Master of Science in Water Science, Policy and Management (with Distinction), University of Oxford, UK
• Bachelor of Arts (with First Class Honours) in English Literature, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

Scholarships

• Oxford Indira Gandhi Graduate Scholarship for DPhil in Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, 2022-present
• Felix Scholarship for MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management, University of Oxford, 2020-2021

Grants and Awards

• Travel and Special Project Grant awarded by Somerville College, University of Oxford, 2024
• Scholar Development Award from the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, 2023
• Frederick Soddy Postgraduate Award from the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers, 2023
• Catherine Hughes Grant awarded by Somerville College, University of Oxford, 2022

Select Publications

Peer-Reviewed Research Article

• Mukherjee, M. (2023) Power, paralysis and action: understanding flood risk management in Kerala, India. Environmental Hazards. pp. 1-32.

Working Paper

Hope, R., McNicholl, D., Mukherjee, M. and Dickinson, N. (2023) Keeping piped water flowing in rural India. Uptime Global and Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford.”