Biography
Mr. Mahesh Kamble is working as Assistant Professor in the Jamsetji Tata School of Disaster Studies in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai Since 2006. He completed his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from D G Ruparel College, University of Mumbai and Master's Degree in social work with specialisation in Urban and Rural Community Development from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 1995. Currently he is pursuing his PhD from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Since student's years he has been actively working in the voluntary sector with Students' organisations and grass root level voluntary organisations. As a professional, he worked on various assignments of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, rehabilitation of Project Affected People, Disaster Management, Rural Development and livelihood generation initiative, building youth organisations, training and capacity development, building networks, research and documentation and policy advocacy. He was the coordinator of Rural Development Programme of SIDDHI in Guhagar block of Ratnagiri District. He was one of the consultants in drafting the Disaster Management Action Plan for the state of Maharashtra in 1997. As coordinator of youth programme in YUVA, he anchored the Anubhav Shiksha programme for Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. He worked as the Director of Samathan, NGO working for state level budget analysis and policy advocacy. As part of studies and profession, he intervened in various disaster situations at different levels, like Earthquakes in Latur and Gujarat, Floods in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Cyclone in Odisha, Malin landslide, Droughts and floods in Maharashtra and so on. He was a member of State Disaster Management Authority in 2015-16 and from 2018-23. While working on starvation in Maharashtra, his research on 'Implementation on food security schemes in Maharashtra' was widely recognized and he was appointed as Assistant Advisor, Maharashtra for the Supreme Court Commissioner on Food Security. As part of this responsibility, he conducted a study of shelter for homeless in Mahrashtra which was part of Supreme courts commissioner's documentation on the issue. He was involved in various initiatives for homelessness including research, public hearings, panel discussions, conferences, collaborations and documentary film. He is a member of State Level Monitoring Committee appointed by the Supreme Court of India to monitor functioning of Shetlers for Urban Homeless in Maharashtra. Mahesh Kamble is a Co-PI in the M ward project of Maharashtra that focuses on improving the HDI ranking of the most vulnerable M ward of Mumbai. He was involved in detailed study of informal housing and impact of Covid-19 in M ward through Community Level Action Learning and Partenership (CLAP) project. He actively participates in all the project inititives including a study on landslides in Mumbai, Budget studies, Greening etc. He played a key role in running community kitchens during Covid-19 and lockdown whereby more than two lakh meals and supplementary nutrition for children was distributed for about three months. Apart from regular work of teaching, research and guidance, he actively engages in field practices for disaster management, food security, Dalit issues, livelihood and governance and policy advocacy.