Arindam Jana

Arindam interned at the Madras School of Economics to work on developing a vulnerability to poverty index, a part of which later became his master thesis. He also interned with the mathematics department at the University of Madras where he designed mathematical teaching aids for visually handicapped students by applying graph theory to decode traditional art forms.

Following his masters degree, Arindam began his career as an economist and applied statistician at Nathan Economic Consulting, India, where he initially worked on litigation cases for both litigants and prosecutors in determining the validity of monopolistic or cartel behavior exhibited by firms. A major project he worked on was to mathematically model Twenty20 cricket matches and generate player performance indices.

Arindam then decided to move into the development sector and joined Small Enterprise Finance Centre at the Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai. He worked there from 2009 to 2012, studying consumer behavior in small-scale and non-formal financial institutions. He also designed and monitored experimental credit and savings products that aimed to minimise credit risk and maximise participation by the said institutions, thereby increasing financial inclusion among lower-income households.

At the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Arindam is a part of the research team, where he contributes towards the development of the Urban Atlases and supports the various urban informatics projects. He is also a part of the teaching team and assists in teaching quantitative methods in the programs run by the institute.