Prof. VASANTHI RAJENDRAN

 

  Prof. Vasanthi Rajendran, India
  Master in Economics, University of Madras, India,
  Ph.D in Economics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India;
  Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Communication, BVB, India
 

 

 

For six years Dr Vasanthi Rajendran  worked in a FAO established Inter Governmental Organisation viz. Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) as Director, Information & Communication Div. and Director (Training).An Information, Education and Communication (IEC) expert, she has contributed to strengthening youth and rural development training and documentation in India. Prior to joining CIRDAP, she worked at Centre for Media and Rural Documentation, National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad, India. She also worked during 2005-09 as Faculty Head, Research, Evaluation, Documentation and Dissemination Division with Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Tamil Nadu, India. Her areas of interest are youth Development ,Rural Wage Employment, Development Communication and Women in Governance. Dr. Vasanthi has edited over 300 books on rural and youth development and published several articles in reputed journals. During her stay for two and a half decades at NIRD and RGNIYD India, she has conducted over 150 training programmes for national and international participants on various facets of Rural Communication and Youth Development. She participates regularly as a Resource person in South Asian Regional Conferences on Promoting Gender Responsive Politics, organised by South Asia Partnership International (SAPI).

 

Dr. Vasanthi initiated and coordinated the first ever Youth Development Index Project for India and the Indian Youth in New Millennium Study. She also developed India exclusive Youth Portal and started the first ever Journal of Youth Development Endeavour. She has designed several Capacity Building Modules for Youth viz, on Right to Information, Environment, Poverty Alleviation, Career Counselling etc. and conducted several research studies on youth issues besides compiling a Statistical Profile of Youth in India.