Dr Geetha Rani V
Working as Assistant Professor of Commerce/ Management in Gulati Institute of
Finance and Taxation. She was awarded Ph.D. in the field of Commerce from
Department of Commerce, School of Business Management and Legal Studies,
University of Kerala. The area of the doctoral work was finance with the topic titled
‘Inflation and Investment Management – A Study among Salaried Class’.
She is qualified with M.Com., M.Phil., Ph.D. and cleared National Eligibility test of
UGC with JRF. Preceding to join the institution, served as FDP Substitute faculty in
PG Department of Commerce, All Saints’ College, Thiruvananthapuram and also
worked as the Guest faculty in PG Department of Commerce, M.M.S. Government
Arts and Science College, Malayinkeezhu, Thiruvananthapuram.
The areas of interest are finance, investment management, international trade and
business. Published research articles and concept papers in UGC care list journals
and other peer reviewed journals. Furthermore presented papers in various
international and national seminars/ conferences/ workshops
Dr. Akhil M P
Dr. Akhil M P is an Assistant Professor (Commerce/Management) at the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT), Thiruvananthapuram. He holds a Ph.D. from University of Kerala in the domain of Commerce. His research deals with understanding the challenges and potential of newly introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. He has cleared UGC Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) as well as National Eligibility Test (NET) in Commerce. He also comes with industry experience in Central School Education sector, Ministry of Education, Govt of India. Prior to joining GIFT, Dr. Akhil was an Assistant Professor at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and Alliance University, Bengaluru. His work has featured in journals and books indexed in Scopus/ABDC/WoS databases. He has also presented his research in a number of national and international conferences. His current research areas includes Taxation, Public finance, Green Finance & Climate Finance, SDG, Circular Economy etc.
Dr Nirmal Roy V P
Nirmal Roy V P is Assistant Professor of Social Science at the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation. He is also currently serving as Advisor of the 7th State Finance Commission of Kerala on a work arrangement basis. He coordinates the Local Finance Research Pillar at GIFT.
Prior to joining GIFT, he was with the Department of Economics Kannur University as Assistant Professor, Indian Institute for Human Settlements Bengaluru as an External Consultant and the Kerala State Planning Board as a Research Assistant and Consultant.
He completed his doctoral research from Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) Chennai. He also has an MPhil in Applied Economics from the Centre for Development Studies Thiruvananthapuram.
Dr. Sumalatha B S
Dr. Sumalatha B S is an Assistant Professor at the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT), Thiruvananthapuram. She has done per Ph.D degree in Economics from Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Chennai. Prior to joining GIFT, she worked as Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, Central University of Tamil Nadu, and Guest faculty at the Department of Economics, Central University of Kerala. Her research areas include development economics, macroeconomics, agricultural economics and other Indian economic issues. She has published research papers in different journals and edited books. She has also presented research papers in various international and national conferences and seminars. Her research projects are funded by the National Commission for Women and National Human Rights Commission.
Dr. Vidya V Devan
Dr. Vidya V Devan is currently working as Assistant Professor in Law in the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT). She holds her Ph.D Degree from Mahathma Gandhi University
Kottayam.
Vidya secured her LLB from Government Law College Kozhikode. Successfully completed
LLM (Taxation) with second rank from Government Law College Kozhikode, Calicut
University. Her research areas primarily focus on Goods and Services Tax. Qualified UGC NET
in 2010.
Her articles and research papers are published in a number of national and international journals.
She has presented her papers in various national and international seminars and conferences.
Previously, she worked as an Assistant Labour Officer Grade II, Labour Department,
Government of Kerala, Associate Professor at Bharata Mata School of Legal Studies, Choondi,
Aluva, Assistant Professor (FIP) at Government Law College, Ernakulam.
Dr. Shamna Thachaparmban
Shamna Thachaparmban is presently working as an Assistant Professor in public Finance at the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT), Thiruvananthapuram. She holds her Ph.D in economics from the University of Calicut. Her doctoral research deals with state finances of Kerala, its trends and patterns, electoral and partisan determinants on expenditure, revenue and inter-governmental transfers, inter-temporal relationships of fiscal variables and fiscal sustainability, which will give an additional explanation to state finances and an alternative explanation for electoral political budget cycle.
Her research papers are published in national and international journals. She has also presented her research papers at several national and international seminars. Her research interests focused on development economics and public finance.
Dr. Meenu Mohan
Dr. Meenu Mohan is currently working as Assistant Professor in Law in Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT). She holds her Ph.D Degree from Department of Law, University of Kerala. She had successfully completed her Post Doctoral Fellowship in Law from the National University of Advanced Legal Studies(NUALS), Kochi.
Meenu did her LLB from Kerala Law Academy, Thiruvananthapuram and LLM from Department of Law, University of Kerala. Her research areas primarily focus on Organ Transplantation Law and the health rights of Interstate Migrant Workers.
Her articles and research papers are published in a number of national and international journals and edited books. She has authored a book entitled “Interstate Migrant Workers in Kerala: Health Safety and Access to Medical Treatment” published by the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi in 2022. Also she has presented her papers in various national and international seminars and conferences.
Prior to joining this institution, she was an Assistant Professor in Kerala Law Academy, Thiruvananthapuram. She has experience in various academic activities like associating research projects, organising seminars and other academic programmes, editing Books and Journals and acting as peer reviewer.
Dr. Aswathy Rachel Varughese
Brief Profile
Aswathy Rachel Varughese is Assistant Professor of Economics at the Gulati Institute of
Finance and Taxation (GIFT), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, where she coordinates the
Institute’s research pillar on public expenditure. Her research focuses on the political economy
of fiscal policy, quality and efficiency of public expenditure, intergovernmental transfers,
financing for development, social sector budgeting and disaster risk expenditure in the context
of climate-induced fiscal vulnerabilities. She also deals critically with expenditure
rationalisation strategies and alternatives emerging from evolving macro-fiscal conditions.
She holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the Institute for Social and Economic Change
(ISEC), Bangalore, and has previously served as Economist-Manager at Canara Bank and held
academic positions at Cochin University of Science and Technology and Christ University
Bangalore.
Dr. Aswathy was selected as a Study of the United States Institute (SUSI) Scholar in 2024 by
the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, representing India
along with scholars from seventeen developing nations. The fellowship was on U.S. economics
and sustainable development. She was also among the select participants at the 8th Lindau
Nobel Laureate Meeting in Economic Sciences, Germany, 2025.
Her research papers have appeared in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Scopus
Indexed journals. She contributes opinion articles to national dailies and has presented research
papers at reputed national and international conferences.