Dr. K. Lalita

Lalita is the former President of Anveshi Executive Committee and Director of Think Soft Consultants, Hyderabad. Her research interests include feminist politics, caste, political movements, health, development, and urban and rural poverty.

Lalita has been associated with the women’s movement in Hyderabad since the 1970s. She was a founder member of Progressive Organisation of Women (POW) and one of the key organisers of Stree Shakti Sanghatana from the mid-70s to mid-80s. She was also a founder member and the first Coordinator of Anveshi between 1985-1996.

Lalita is on the advisory boards of many local and national civil society groups: Godavari Vedika, Civil Society Dialogue on Godavari River Mid-Basin for Exploring Ways of Effective Utilization of Waters, Andhra Pradesh, since 2003; Institutional Ethical Committee, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), since 2003; Yugantar: A Voice for Concerned Dissent and Deepening Democracy; Mahila Sanatkar, 2001-2003; Mahila Samakhya, Government of India, 1997-2001; Executive Council, Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha, 1997-2001;  Advisory Committee, Bhumika. She was the South Asia Coordinator for the project on Gender, Citizenship, Governance, at Royal Tropical Institute, The Netherlands, 1999-2002.

[expand title=”Read more”  swaptitle=”Back”] Select Publications

  • Savaalaksha Sandehaalu: Streelu-Aarogyam, Samskruti, Rajakeeyalu (A Hundred Thousand Doubts: Women’s Health, Culture, Politics) Hyderabad: Anveshi Health Collective & Hyderabad Book Trust, 2006. Co-editor. (Co-authored the first edition of this book published by Stree Shakti Sanghatana in 1991; part of the editorial group of the English health book, Taking Charge of Our Bodies, New Delhi: Penguin, 2004.
  • Mantrajalam Doctorlada Mantrasanulada? (A translation into Telugu of Witches, Midwives and Nurses by B. Ehrenreich and D. English). Hyderabad: Anveshi, 1994.
  • Women Writing in India: Vol. 1: 600 B.C. to the Early 20th Century & Vol. 2: The 20th Century. New York: Feminist Press, New Delhi: OUP, 1990-1993. Co-author.
  • ‘We Were Making History…’: Life Stories of Women in the Telangana People’s Struggle. New Delhi: Kali Press and London: Zed Books, 1989. Co-editor.
  • Manaku Teliyani Mana Charitra. Hyderabad: Stree Shakti Sangatana, 1986. Co-editor
  • Indian Women in Subsistence and Agricultural Labour (assisted Maria Mies), Geneva: ILO, 1986.
  • Lace makers of Narsapur (assisted Maria Mies), 1982. [/expand]

Prof. Susie Tharu

Susie is the former General Secretary of the Anveshi Executive Committee. She is emeritus professor in the Department of Cultural Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.  Her research interests include feminism, cultural theory and history of India, Dalit studies, and cultural studies of health.  She has been part of the Subaltern Studies editorial collective since 1992.

[expand title=”Read more” swaptitle=”Back”]

Susie is one of the founders of Stree Shakti Sanghatana and Anveshi. With K. Satyanarayana, she has edited two volumes of a dossier on  Dalit writings from South India.  The focus of the collection is the resurgence of Dalit Politics in the 1990s.

Susie is on the Advisory Panels of BODHI Centre for Dalit Bahujan Initiatives since 2003, and Trustee, Centre for Studies in Culture and Society, Bangalore since its inception. She has also been on the Advisory Committee on National Biography, National Book Trust, a member of the Governing Council, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, trustee of the India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore, and a member of the Joint Committee for South Asia, Social Science Research Council, New York (SSRC-JCSA).

Honours and Awards

  • 1994-96: Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship.
  • 1962-65: Uganda Government Merit Scholarship, Makerere College, Uganda.

Select Publications

  • Steel Nibs are Sprouting: New Dalit Writing in South India, Dossier 2: Kannada and Telugu Edited and introduced along with K. Satyanarayana. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2013.
  • No Alphabet in Sight:  New Dalit Writing in South India, Dossier 1: Tamil and Malayalam.  Edited and introduced along with K. Satyanarayana. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2011.
  • Towards a Critical Medical Practice: Reflections on the Dilemmas of Medical Culture Today.  Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, forthcoming. Co-editor with Anand Zachariah and R. Srivatsan (on behalf of the CMC Anveshi Collective).
  • New French Feminisms: An Indian Anthology.  Delhi: Sage, 2003.  Co-editor.
  • Subaltern Studies, Vol. 10. Delhi: OUP, 1999. Co-editor.
  • “Caste and Desire in the Scene of the Family.” Economic and Political Weekly, XXXI: 22, June 1996.
  • “Notes for a Contemporary Theory of Gender,” Subaltern Studies, Vol. 9, 1995. Co-author.
  • Subject to Change: Literary Studies in the Nineties. Delhi: Orient Longman, 1994.
  • Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present, Vols I and II, Delhi: Oxford University Press, New York: Feminist Press and London: Harper Collins, 1990-1993. Co-editor. (Inspired by WWI, two African scholars, Abena Busia and Tuzyline Allan brought out four volumes of Women Writing Africa in collaboration with the Feminist Press). [/expand]

Dr. Veena Shatrugna

Veena is the former Joint Secretary of the Anveshi Executive Committee. She was, till 2009, the Deputy Director and Head, Clinical Division, at the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. A medical doctor by training, Veena is committed to issues of women’s health, medical practice, nutrition and health policy and has been involved extensively in activism on women and health in the country.

[expand title=”Read more” swaptitle=”Back”]Veena is one of the founder members of Stree Shakti Sanghatana and was actively involved in the later founding of Anveshi. She has held the posts of President, Secretary, and Treasurer at Anveshi in the last 20 years.

She is a member of the National Advisory Committee on Food Security and has been a longstanding member of Jana Vignana Vedika, Andhra Pradesh. She has had a long association with the Medico Friend Circle and has been an Editorial Board Member of the MFC Bulletin since 2003. Veena was a founder member of Hunger Watch.

Select Publications

  • Women’s Health: Critical Issues for Development. Forthcoming. Co-author.
  • Taking Charge of Our Bodies : A Health Handbook for Women. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2004. Co-author.
  • ‘Women and Nutrition’. National Profile on Women, Health and Development: Country Profile-India.  Ed. Sarala Gopalan and Mira Shiva, New Delhi : Voluntary Health Association of India/WHO/WHD, 2000.
  • ‘Osteoporosis in the Asian region: Newer Questions’. Diet, Nutrition and Chronic Disease: An Asian Perspective,  Eds. Shetty, P., Gopalan, C., London : Smith-Gordon, 1998. pp. 81-83.
  • ‘Nutrition and Pregnancy and Lactation’. Textbook of Human Nutrition. Eds. Bamji MS, Pralhad Rao N, Vinodini Reddy.  New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1996.
  • ‘Maze of Scientific Medicine, Susheela’s Experiences,’ Mantrajalam Doctorlada Mantrsanulada?  Women’s Studies Series 1. Hyderabad : Charita Pracharamulu, 1993. Co-editor.
  • Savaalaksha Sandehaalu (A Hundred Thousand Doubts). Hyderabad : Stree Shakti Sanghatana, 1991. Co-author.[/expand]

Prof. Rama Melkote

Rama is a member of the Anveshi Executive Committee. She retired as Professor of International Relations and Political Science from Osmania University. She is a keen participant in the International Relations debate and is a specialist in Africa. Her research interests are social movements, feminist politics and human rights.

Rama is a founder member of Anveshi. She has been active in the left political scene over the past three decades in Telangana. Several groups and NGOs draw from her expertise in their policy and decision-making. She has mentored several distinguished academics and activists during her long career. Her association with the French academy since her doctoral work at Sorbonne continued with her work as Member of the International Evaluation Committee, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, until recently. Rama has worked as the Managing Trustee of Centre for World Solidarity for more than ten years. She is Member of Raitu Sahayaka Committee, Centre for Environment Concerns, and the State Advisory Council on Food Security.

[expand title=”Read more”  swaptitle=”Back”]Select Publications

  • French Feminism: An Indian Anthology. New Delhi: Sage, 2002. Co-editor.
  • Meanings of Globalisation: Indian and French Perspectives. Delhi: Sterling, 2001.
  • Third World City. Delhi: Delta Publishers, 1997. Editor.
  • Indian Ocean, Issues for Peace. Delhi: Manohar, 1995. Editor.
  • International Relations. Delhi: Sterling Publications, 1994. Co-author.
  • Political Economy of Foreign Policy: A Study of Foreign Policy of Madagascar. Kaliuga Publications, 1994.
  • Regional Organisations – A Third World Perspective, Delhi: Sterling Publications, 1990.
  • We Were Making History: Life Stories of Women in the Telangana Peoples Struggle. New Delhi: Kali for Women. 1989. Co-editor. [/expand]