Biography
Shamim Modi has been engaged in mobilizing the marginalized and vulnerable sections of the society against injustice and oppression in the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh for more than two decades, till she formally joined Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai as Assistant Professor in School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance in May 2009. She has spearheaded the innovative LL.M ( access to justice) programme for two years,from 2015-17 as the programme coordinator. She teaches Courses on “Law. Justice and Development” and “Developing Strategies for Legal Empowerment of the Marginalised”. She is a guest lecturer at the MIT-SOG ( Maharashtra Institute of technology-School of Government) and conducts their course on “ Leadership’ and “ Emotional Intelligence “ from time to time. She is a specialised Visiting Faculty with The Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai and takes classes on Mediation, Emotions and Mindfulness, Emotional Intelligence etc. She has been a Visiting Faculty with the Praveen Gandhi College of Law, Mumbai and teaches course on Law and Social Transformation. She conducts training regularly for the Indian Forest Service( IFS) probationer’s training, IPS and CISF, CRPF and Prison Staff and Officials on the issue of Emotional Intelligence for Effective, Efficient and Sensitive functioning. The training are sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), BPR&D, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun(IGNFA),etc. She has been nominated a member of the Working Group on Scheduled Tribes in the 11th Five Year Plan, She has been invited to the Side Events to the United Nations (UN) to speak on the issues of Human Rights Defenders in 2011. She had been a part of a two-member team to visit Mircpur on the directions of the Honorable Supreme Court of India to give a detailed report on the conditions of the riot victims and to suggest appropriate solutions . She has also been directed by the Honorable High Court at Jabalpur, in the course of her PIL on the conditions of women prisoners in the State of Madhya Pradesh, to prepare a checklist of necessary provisions to be available in prison for women inmates,on the basis of various directions by the Honorable Supreme Court and High Courts at various point of time. This prepared checklist was then circulated to all the prisons in M.P at the directions of the Honorable Chief Justice and the prison authorities were directed to submit a filled form to the Court. She has been a Tribal Rights activist, lawyer, trainer, teacher and researcher. As a founder member of the Shramik Adivasi Sanghatana, a Tribal Rights Organisation engaged in empowering the Tribal and Dalit communities for seeking justice in cases of gross violation of their rights active in Betul, Harda and Khandwa districts of Madhya Pradesh, She has been instrumental in highlighting the bonded labour system prevalent in Harda and Betul Districts, leading to the release and rehabilitation of the bonded tribal families. She has also been instrumental in filing numerous Public Interest Litigations in the High Court of Jabalpur and Supreme Court of India on various issues pertaining to the Adivasi rights, labour rights, against illegal mining, and Prisoner’s Rights. After 12 years of persuasion, in 2016, the Chief Justice of India’s bench gave a landmark judgment “Shramik Adivasi Sangathan Vs State of M. P. and Ors.” highlighting cases of gross persecution of the activists of the Sanghatana. Involved in conducting sensitization training and workshops with IPS,,CISF among others on the issue of enhancing emotional intelligence for effective, efficient and sensitive functioning, She has been engaged with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on a long term basis to develop counselling skills of personnel and officials to deal with the issues of suicides and fratricides. She has also been engaged with training the Educators to make pedagogical interventions to enhance Emotional Competencies of the teachers/Educators and developing their skills to inculcate empathy and compassion in students and teachers. She has Worked with Oxfam (India) trust for a brief period of time in 1992-93 and then started work with the disadvantaged population by working for the rights of the people displaced by the Bargi Dam at Jabalpur where 162 villages had been submerged by the dam on river Narmada. Her quest to work for justice and equality for the most marginalised and vulnerable population brought her to the Tribal District of Betul in the State of Madhya Pradesh. She is a founder member of the Mass Tribal Organisation named Shramik Adivasi Sanghatana. The organisational work is now spread across three Districts - Betul, Harda and Khandwa districts of Madhya Pradesh. Her passion for justice and equality compelled her to develop and conduct training programmes for people employed in public services, police and forest department with an objective to enhance their sensitivity towards marginalised and vulnerable groups. She is a psychology graduate from the Jesus and Mary College(JMC), Delhi and a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the Lady Shree Ram(LSR) College for Women, Delhi. She has completed her M.Phil in Social Psychology from the Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai and Ph.D on “Contemporary form of Slavery in Adivasi Agricultural Labour” from TISS, Mumbai . She has completed her LL.B. from Barkatullah University, Bhopal and has completed a Certificate Course on 'Justice' from Harvard University. Domain knowledge of subject. Tribal Rights and People’s Movement Community Organization and Empowerment Law, Development & Justice Strategies for Emowerment of Marginalised and vunerable sections of the Society Forest Legislations and Tribal Rights Qualitative Research Methodology Emotional Intelligence / Designing and Executing trainings/workshops on Human Rights, Emotional Intelligence, Qualitative Research Methodology, Tribal Rights, etc. Emotional Intelligence and Governance /Administration Experiential and Applied Psychology Constitution of India Theories of Justice Mediation, Emotions and Mindfulness Political Leadership and Emotional Intelligence Law and Social Transformation Modules/Training Programmes/Workshops Designed and Executed: Involved in conducting sensitization trainings and workshops with Indian Police Service(IPS), Indian Forest Service (IFS), Indian Administrative Service(IAS), Central Indian Security Forces(CISF) among others on the issue of Emotional Intelligence for Effective, Efficient and Sensitive functioning, Engaged with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on a long term basis to develop counselling skills of personnel and officials to deal with the issues of suicides and fratricides. Engaged with training the Educators to make pedagogical interventions to enhance the Emotional Competencies of the teachers/Educators and developing their skills to inculcate empathy and compassion in students and teachers. Involved in training of the IFS officers (in-service) for Developing Emotional Intelligence for Effective, Efficient and Sensitive functioning. Conducting a Social Science Module for the IFS probationers at the Indira Gandhi National Forests Academy (IGNFA) at Dehradun from 2013 onward. A continuing programme with IGNFA, Dehradun. Visiting faculty at IGNFA. Developing Emotional Intelligence for Legal Professionals for Sensitive Functioning. A regular resource person at the Refresher Courses organized by Mumbai University. A regular resource person for the Prison Official’s training Visiting Faculty at MIT- WPU for conducting a 15 hours module on “Political Leadership and Transformation” for MIT-SOG, Pune Conducting workshop on “ Becoming Emotionally Intelligent Researcher” with Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment(ATREE), Bangaluru. Member, Internal Complaints Committee (TISS)constituted under section 4 of the UGC (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions ) Regulations ,2015 Third Party Member, Internal Complaints Committee, SHW of All India Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ( AIIPMR), Mumbai Managing Committee Member, Forum for Medical Ethics Society (FMES). Forum for Medical Ethics Society (FMES) is a voluntary, non-profit organisation registered in Mumbai. It was born out of an effort by a group of concerned doctor to focus attention on the need for ethical norms and practices in health care in India. It owns and publishes the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. (IJME ). Workshop on " Becoming Emotionally Intelligent Conservationist " for The Canopy Collective India and the Mud on Boots Project, Dusty Foot Foundation, Green Hub. Educational Qualifications Completed a Certificate Course on “Justice” from Harvard University in December 2020. Ph.D thesis on ‘ Contemporary Form of Slavery in Adivasi Agricultural Labour Barsudia System of Debt Bondage in the State of Madhya Pradesh’ , from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Bachelor of Law, (L.L.B), Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 1993-1996 M. Phil (Psychology), Social Psychology , Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, 1994 M.A, Clinical Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College,Delhi, 1985-1987 B.A (Hons.), Psychology, Jesus and Mary College, New Delhi, 1982-1985