Varun is the Founder and Managing Director at the South East Migration Foundation. Along with strategy and fundraising, his core research and operational focus at IMN are on migration data, designing service delivery mechanisms, and the political economy of migration. Previously, he has worked on projects around digital financial inclusion, informational privacy, nutrition, industry, and competition policy. Varun has a BA in Maths from the University of Washington in Seattle and an MSc in Economics from Maastricht University.
Priyansha is the Operations & Advocacy Lead at IMN. Her current work at IMN focuses on last-mile delivery of financial services to migrant households and she leads operations at IMN’s Chalo Network. Priyansha also works on IMN’s internal migration projects around entitlements, policy advocacy and was involved in developing IMN’s Inter-State Migrant Policy Index (IMPEX). Her work has been published in journals like International Migration, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Routledge and in media outlets like India Spend, IDR, and Firstpost. Priyansha holds a Master’s in Regulatory Governance from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and a Bachelor’s degree in social sciences from TISS, Hyderabad.
Rohini is currently a Project Associate at India Migration Now. In her prior role as Research Coordinator, she has been involved in several research projects spanning emigration and overseas recruitment from India, the impact of COVID-19 on migration, migrant decision-making, and internal migration in India. She has also worked extensively with IMN’s policy projects including the Interstate Migrant Policy Index (IMPEX) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). Rohini’s research interests include international migration, refugee studies, migrant integration, and the sociology of migration. Her work has been published in media outlets including Firstpost, India Spend, Business Standard, and as book chapters in academic publications such as Routledge. Rohini holds a Master’s in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and is a PhD Scholar at the University of Bonn, Germany.
Chitra Rawat is the Research and Operations Manager at India Migration Now and works on IMN’s Chalo Network. At Chalo, Chitra focuses on the agent ecosystem in India and works towards optimising digital service delivery mechanisms for low-income migrant households across major migration corridors. She has previously worked on IMN’s Digital Financial Services Project, which aimed to improve the financial habits of migrant workers in the construction industry. She holds a Master’s in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Nidhi is a Research and Editorial Associate at India Migration Now and has been involved in research projects in the areas of emigration, the impact of COVID-19 on migration, and internal migration in India. Her research interests include international development, international and Indian labour markets, the economics of migration, and migrant integration. Nidhi holds a Master’s in Economics from Symbiosis International University, Pune. She has previously worked as a Research Intern for the International Migration Centre-Karnataka project by Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bengaluru.
Varsha is a Research and Operations Associate at India Migration Now and Chalo Network. Previously she worked as a Migration Research Fellow with IMN and Bandhu Urban Tech during which she was involved in research aimed at assessing state and central level policies, scoping social security benefits and civil society interventions for migrant workers in the fields of financial inclusion, social welfare delivery and housing. She is particularly interested in the theme of aspirational migration, caste networks and small-town economy. She holds a Masters in Development Studies from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.
Bhavin is the tech ninja of the team at IMN. Being the in-house software developer, his work broadly evolves around maintaining the websites and applications of the company. He works closely with the operations and communications team to generate quality outputs. He likes to explore new projects and the latest developments in technology.