Bio
My name is Bandana Devi (she/her). I prefer to be called just Bandana. I am a grassroots development practitioner by profession, working since last 9 years, being associated with a national reputed not for profit organization named PRADAN. I have Worked with different Adivasi (Tribal) communities of Jharkhand, India. Formed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and made women's federated structures, linked them to government flagship programs, mobilized public funds to help women members to take up economic activities. Promoted women farmer’s producer organizations, facilitated village development plans, mobilized women to demand work under employment guarantee acts, formed Grievance redressal forums for easy access to address women’s grievances. Established the concept of Women's Court to address cases of violence against W&Gs. I lead a team of around 20 professionals. I am one of the Gender Trainers as well as Gender Auditors of PRADAN.
My interest is to work on Gender and Development, focusing on economic empowerment of women and girls (W&Gs). I want to promote Gender equality and rights of W&Gs in rural India who face intersecting discriminations because of which they are deprived from an empowering environment. I want to work policy formulation and influence state policies towards achieving gender equality. So, I would like to do research on the impact of gender discrimination in the process of development of an individual, a family, a village and a society at large. In this, I would like to do an in-depth study on the impact of gender based discriminations on development and design interventions towards more gender equal society.
