Dr. Rajesh K

Dr. Rajesh K

Senior Urban Fellow
Kerala institute of Local Administration

• Ph.D. in Development Studies
• Master of Social Work (MSW)
• PG Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication
• UGC-NET

• Senior Urban Fellow, Center for Urban Governance, KILA
• Course Director, Training of Urban Local Governments
• Coordination of Trainings on waste management
• Coordination of Trainings on extreme poverty eradication, Thozhilsabha, One local Government One Idea
• Undertaking academic studies
• Internal committee member
• Student Internship Guidance

• Research team member representing Kerala state for the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education [CPRHE] to work in the project “Diversity and Discrimination in higher education in India”, of National University of Education Planning and Administration [NEUPA].

• Expertise in Local Planning,
• Local Economic Development,
• Participatory Planning,
• Social Science Research Methodology,
• Qualitative Research,
• Urban Governance
• Decentralized Planning & Grassroots Democracy
• Social Exclusion

• Democratic decentralization
• Local planning
• Social exclusion and inclusive studies
• Policy research

• Senior Fellow, Integrated Rural Technology Center, Palakkad, Kerala

• ICSSR fellowship for PHD programme (2008-2012)

• Performed as Consultant Advisor, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), Anand Gujarat, during 2015-2019.
• Carried out responsibilities in preparing strategic paper on National Level Decentralized Planning.
• Developed Strategy paper for block planning in five states (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka, and Andhra).
• Trained state and block level teams for the implementation of block planning strategy.

Books Published

• Local Politics and Participatory planning in Kerala. Primus Books, New Delhi (2020).
• Local planning and democracy: Lessons from Kerala. Kanishka publishers, New Delhi (2015).
• Vikendreekritha Asoothranam Keralathile Anubhavangal. (Malayalam) (2011), (Decentralized Planning: Kerala’s experiences) Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, Kerala.
• Kerala Vikasanam oru Janapaksha Sameepanam (Kerala Development: A People’s Oriented Approach, Malayalam), Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (M.P. Parameswaran & K Rajesh Eds, 2015).

Research Articles/ Chapters

• Participatory institutions and people’s practices in India: An analysis of the decentralization experiences in Kerala State, in D. Sundar Ram, Eds, (2009), Grassroots Planning and Local Governance in India: Policy initiatives and people’s participation, P.P.198-216, Kanishka publishers, New Delhi
• Leaving no one behind, Lessons from the Kerala disasters (2019). Reimagining the role of local self-governments in Kerala in disaster management

• Courses and Programmes designed and conducted at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA)
  • Extreme Poverty Identification Process (EPIP): First initiative at the National Level to identify the Extreme Poor households. Played a prominent role in the formulation of the EPIP framework in Kerala. Jointly led the process of designing handbooks and training materials. Trained 4,73,000 stakeholders across the state of Kerala, from state-level to local self-government levels, undertaking the role of Course Director.
  • Thozhilsabha: Innovative programme for local-level employment generation and unemployment eradication. Provided joint leadership in the policy and framework formulation and shouldered a vital role in developing the handbook and training module. Designed and implemented training programmes for 1,00,000 stakeholders across the state of Kerala.
  • One Local Government, One Idea: Programme aimed at promoting innovative ideas put forward by local self-governments. Jointly led the initiative for the preparation of handbooks and modules. Trained 1,50,000 participants across the state, including Standing Committees and Working Groups, taking up the role of the Course Director.
  • Handled the role of the Course Director for training the Development, Education and Health related Standing Committees of the Urban Local Governments. Jointly prepared the handbooks and training modules for this training. Led the training programmes for the Urban Working Groups under these domains.
  • Collaborative training programme with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). Acted as the Course Director for the collaborative training programme with NIUA on Liquid Waste Management- organized one offline and two online batch sessions under this collaboration.
  • Other programmes organized in the role of Course Director:
    • Urban Status Study: Comprehensive study on the status of Urban Local Bodie (ULBs) in Kerala
    • Training of Municipal Accountants
    • Training on sanitation
    • Thelineer Ozhukum Nava Keralam: Campaign undertaken in association with the Suchitwa Mission to ensure clean water bodies.
    • Harithamithram Smart Garbage App: Mobile app for tracking the movement of municipal solid wastes.
    • Training Need Assessment: Jointly designed and implemented the Training Need Assessment on municipal solid waste management for the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project, funded by the World Bank.

• International Congress on Kerala Studies 2015 & 2016
• ICSSR sponsored two day National Seminar on“ Development at Margins: Marginality and Marginalization in India’s Growth Story”, Tamil Nadu 2015
• National seminar on Democratic Decentralisation in Kerala: Prospects and challenges, Santhigiri Thiruvananthapuram, 2012.
• National seminar on Decentralised governance and women empowerment, Institute of Parliamentary affairs, Thiruvananthapuram 2010
• National Colloquium on Grass roots level planning and local government institutions in India, Academy of grassroots governance and research of India, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, August 2009
• National seminar on ‘Praxis–Burgeoning paradigms in participatory approaches, Kalady Kerala 2006
• International Conference on A decade of decentralization in Kerala: Issues Options and Lessons, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. Organised at Thiruvananthapuram, October 2005.

• Serves as Ph.D. research guide since June 2020, with Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN) Mexico, at the Superior School of Economics.

• Rajesh. K., Gandharv Palliwal, and Nirali Sukhla. (2018), “Strategy paper for block planning”, Foundation for Ecological Security, Anand, Gujarat.
• Rajesh K and M Benson Thomas (2011), “Decentralisation and interventions in health sector: A critical inquiry into the experience of Local Self Governments in Kerala” (Working paper No271), Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore.
• Rajesh K (2010), “Reproduction of institutions through people’s practices: Evidences from a Grama Panchayath in Kerala” (Working Paper No 254), Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, ISBN: 978-81-7791-110-7

• Training Programme for Child Friendly Local Governance. Impact Assessment of KILA
• A Training Programme on Capacity building for Municipal officers. Impact Assessment of KILA

• Exploring potentials of local governments in improving the quality of secondary education: mapping experiments and prospects of Thrissur district panchayaths, Kerala. Funded by UNICEF 2019 – 2020
• Policy research project on diversity and discrimination in higher education of India, for National Institute for Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA 2016)
• Role of Model Residential Schools in the Educational Attainment of Tribal Students: An Analysis of Performance of Tribal Residential Schools in Kerala. for Kerala State Planning Board (2020).

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