Dr. Irma Kerketta

Dr. Irma Kerketta is currently working as a Senior Project Consultant (Training) at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi. She is an interdisciplinary scholar and development practitioner whose work lies at the intersection of migration studies, human trafficking, gender, and Adivasi/Indigenous communities in India. She currently serves as a Senior Project Consultant at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, where she contributes to national initiatives in educational planning, institutional strengthening, and capacity building.

Dr. Kerketta earned her PhD and MPhil from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Her doctoral research, grounded in multi-sited ethnography across Jharkhand and Delhi, critically examined the lived experiences of Adivasi women within the intersecting frameworks of migration and human trafficking. Over more than seven years of sustained academic engagement, her scholarship has made significant contributions to the fields of tribal studies, indigenous epistemologies, gender justice, and the study of structural inequalities in contemporary India.

Alongside her academic pursuits, Dr. Kerketta brings over five years of professional experience in the domains of education, livelihoods, skill development, and tribal welfare. She has held leadership and programmatic roles across government institutions and civil society organisations, contributing to large-scale initiatives in both rural development and education. Her professional engagements include work with the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society, Muskurahat Foundation, Transforming Education (TEJU), and the International Institute of Migration and Development.

Dr. Kerketta has presented her research at numerous national and international academic forums, where her work has advanced critical conversations on tribal epistemologies, indigenous rights, women’s agency, and safe migration. Her scholarship is distinguished by its integration of rigorous academic inquiry with policy engagement and grassroots practice, reflecting a sustained commitment to socially engaged research.

Her work is particularly noted for bridging the domains of academia, policy, and community action, generating knowledge that informs inclusive development, equitable education, and the advancement of rights for historically marginalised tribal communities.