Alumni Feature | Sehrish Hazarika, Master’s in Public Policy ‘21

Inquisitive and hardworking, Sehrish Hazarika graduated from Jadavpur University, Kolkata with first-class honours in B.A. Sociology. Her passion for human rights cultivated right from college when she volunteered with Child Rights and You (CRY), Kolkata, and spent her summer evenings teaching English and Mathematics to children living in the Howrah and Dhakuria slums. This experience led her to develop an interest in the field of social protection. This interest widened considerably after an internship with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, in New Delhi where researched on social protection schemes in the BRICS nations and soon after, joined the Master’s Programme in Public Policy at NLSIU. As a student of the MPP course, Sehrish has engaged with several organisations to pursue her passion for policy and people. During her time with Amnesty International, India she led their ‘Young India’ project and mobilised hundreds of young activists from across the country to write letters on their right to dissent. As an intern with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi she contributed to their flagship ‘Easier Said Than Done’ report by documenting the pledges and performances of 11 Commonwealth countries at the 42nd United Nations Human Rights Council. She has also carried out research for the Centre for Child and the Law, NLSIU on the role played by social protection programmes such as the Targeted Public Distribution System, and Direct Cash Transfers to mitigate food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, and has also volunteered her time to Pratham Education Foundation, overseeing the delivery of Pratham Digital’s Spoken English course to children in the remote villages of Andhra Pradesh. She is currently researching on the impact of the Labour Codes for the Labour Department, Government of Delhi and is also working with them to formulate a domestic workers policy for the state. Sehrish was selected as a delegate to the Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) in January 2021 and was also chosen as a UN Women UK delegate to the 65th Commission on the Status of Women in March 2021. In July 2021, Sehrish will be joining KPMG India’s Infrastructure, Government, and Healthcare (IGH) practice as a consultant.