Participated in the Research Methods Workshop in Dhaka.  In house discussions and review of literature helped in the orientation of the study team to social protection debates and issues arising from a focus on women’s livelihood. A systematic review of data on poverty and work in the areas to be studied has begun.  

Fieldwork will start in Palakkad district in Kerala towards the end of August.  A researcher from ISST (Rina Bhattacharya) participated at a seminar on the NREGA held at the Centre for Development Studies, Tiruvananthapuram, in early April, which has enabled ISST to be in contact with others who have researched into this programme in Kerala, as well as elsewhere.  Ratna Sudarshan made a ‘start up’ visit to the NREGS office in Palakkad in July.  Based on the discussions and field observations during this visit as well as a scanning of the data made available by the NREGS office, the study design and outline of questions and issues to be explored during the fieldwork has been drawn up. Available literature on the NREGA in Kerala and Palakkad in particular is being reviewed.