Nair, Rejitha Narayanan

I am a legal academic with a decade of experience working with universities and grassroots organizations. Currently, I serve as an Assistant Professor at Shiv Nadar University Chennai, where I design and teach courses on the Law of Contracts. As a founding faculty member at the School of Law, I am actively involved in curriculum design and research development, with a particular focus on legal aid and access to justice initiatives.

My academic journey includes several years at Nirma University, Ahmedabad, where I taught a range of interdisciplinary courses, including Human Rights Law, Refugee Law, Law and Economics, and Impoverishment and Law. During this time, I also led the Centre for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, fostering collaborations with international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), UNHCR, and the South Asian Institute of Legal Studies (SAILS), Bangladesh.

I have also held consultative roles with civil society organizations such as the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), where I design and facilitate a course on Women and Land Rights for grassroots-level and mid-managerial employees of various organizations. Additionally, I am a Master Trainer of Paralegals with the Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad, where I have conducted numerous training programs and assisted in designing courses and training manuals.

My research interests lie in understanding the relationship between legal institutions and poverty, focusing on social welfare policies, land rights, and e-governance. I have chaired conferences and delivered expert lectures at prestigious institutions both in India and abroad. I have authored articles on the digital welfare state, universal basic income, e-governance, and land grabbing.

I have organized numerous conferences, seminars, and training programs in collaboration with national and international organizations, including the ICRC, UNHCR, SAILS Bangladesh, All India Radio, and the Gujarat State Women’s Commission. I have also received scholarships and grants to present my research and attend workshops from institutions such as Harvard Law School, Massachusetts; University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; the Institute for New Economic Thinking, New York; the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo; the International Committee of the Red Cross South Asia Delegation; the South Asian Institute of Legal Studies, Bangladesh; and the National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi.

I hold a Ph.D. from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. My doctoral research is titled Universal Basic Income Policy Towards Distributive Justice: A Study of Indian Constitutional Commitment to Justice. I also completed my LL.M. at NALSAR, where I was awarded the prestigious Nani Palkhivala Memorial Gold Medal in Comparative Constitutional Law.

My academic and research endeavors are driven by a deep commitment to advancing social justice, fostering legal empowerment, and contributing meaningfully to both academia and grassroots development.

Area(s) of expertise: Distributive Justice, Economic Rights, Digital Welfare State, Universal Basic Income