Vishal Narain

His teaching and academic interests are in the inter-disciplinary analyses of public policy processes and institutions, water governance, gender, rights and equity analyses in water management, peri-urban issues and vulnerability and adaptation to environmental change. In particular he is interested in the relationship between technologies and institutions in water management, and how they are impacted by each other. He explores these issues using qualitative research tools with a strong reliance on ethnography. Lately he has been working extensively on peri-urban issues, especially in the context of vulnerability and adaptation to environmental change and water insecurity. His research on these dynamics has been published in peer-reviewed journals like Geoforum, Land Use Policy, Environment and Urbanization, Water Policy and Water International. He has co-edited several books such as “Water Security in periurban South Asia: adapting to climate change and urbanization (Oxford University Press, 2016), “Indian Water Policy at the cross-roads: resources, technology and reforms (Springer, 2016)” and “Globalization of water governance in South Asia (Routledge: Taylor and Francis, 2014).” In 2018 he published a book, Public Policy A View from the South in light of his research experience of policy processes in India.

He received the SR Sen Prize for the best book on Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (2002–03) conferred by the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics for his book ‘’Institutions, technology and water control: water users associations and irrigation management reform in two large scale systems in India (Orient Longman, 2003).” He also received the award for excellence in research conferred by Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon for the year 2016 and 2018.