Dr. Ellina Samantroy Jena
Fellow
Qualification: M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. (Sociology) JNU, New Delhi
Phone No: 0120-2411533/34
; Ext: 2077
Email ID: ellinasroy[dot]vvgnli[at]gov[dot]in
About
Dr. Ellina Samantroy Jena,
Fellow
M.A, M. Phil. and Ph.D., (Sociology) JNU, New Delhi
Dr. Ellina Samantroy is a Sociologist working as a Fellow at the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute. She has a Masters, MPhil and Doctorate in Sociology from the Centre for Study of Social Systems (CSSS), School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. She has more than two 20 years of professional experience in teaching (Sociology), training and conducting policy research in the area of Gender and labour issues particularly Unpaid work, Gender Statistics, Time Use Studies, Work and Family Life Balance, Gender and Social protection, Child Labour, Gender and Labour Laws, International Labour Standards and Labour Codes.
Before joining this institute, she was Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Vasant Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and has also taught at the Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMI), New Delhi and Law College, Dehradun. She is the Co-ordinator of the Research Centre for Gender and Labour at the institute. She also co-ordinates International Networking between VVGNLI and ITC-ILO Turin, Italy and is the Co- ordinator for BRICS Network of Labour Research Institute for India. She is the Managing Editor of Indradhanush (Bi-monthly newsletter of VVGNLI).
She has contributed extensively to national policy discourse on gender and labour. She is a member of the committee for recommendation of a legal framework for regulation of rights of domestic workers (2025) and Member of Task Force for Improving Female Labour Participation constituted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment (2023). Her policy research for the Ministry of Labour and Employment includes the BRICS paper on Participation of Women in the Labour Force prepared for the Employment Working Group (EWG) Meeting (2021). She has also authored the issue paper on Women and the Future of Work for the Labour 20 Inception Meeting under the G20 Presidency of India (2021) as well as the policy paper Women and Skills in G20 on the sidelines of G20, Indian Presidency 2023. She also served as a member of the Expert Committee constituted by the National Commission for Women (2019), tasked with developing modules on gender sensitization and legal awareness.
She has undertaken several research projects and consultancy assignments for international organizations like the UNICEF, World Bank, the ILO, ITC-ILO, Turin and has carried out several research projects at the institute. Some of the major research studies that she has undertaken include; Mapping of Social Welfare Schemes for Domestic Workers in the State of Bihar and Study on Accessibility Assessment of Schemes in collaboration with ILO, New Delhi (2025);Implementation of Maternity Benefit Act in India (2025); Impact Assessment of flagship Schemes on the lives of labour (2025);Vulnerability Mapping and Identification of Alternative Livelihood for Women Beedi Workers in Telangana (2024);Research for BRICS Network of Labour Research Institute on ‘Ensuring Social Security for All’ (2023); Paid and Unpaid Work of Urban Working Women in the Organised Manufacturing Sector: A Study of Time Use Patterns in the National Capital Region (2023); Vulnerability Mapping and Identification of Alternative Livelihood for Beedi Workers in Telangana (2023); Women’s Paid and Unpaid Work: Insights from the Time Use Survey and Methodological Issues (2022); VVGNLI-UNICEF study on ‘State of Child Workers in India: Mapping Trends (2017);Unpaid Work and Time Use Patterns of Women Workers in North East India: Special reference to Tripura (2018); ‘Women in the Urban Economy and Employment’, (2018) undertaken for India Urban Knowledge Platform, World Bank, New Delhi; An Overview of Laws, Policies and Practices on Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women Workers in Afghanistan, India and Sri Lanka (2019) for the ILO, New Delhi; Evaluation study of the National Child labour Project Scheme (2020) commissioned by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India etc. Presently, she is working on a study titled ‘Women and Future of Work: Opportunities and Challenges’ for the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
She regularly organizes international and national-level training programmes on a range of labour and gender-related themes. These include International Labour Standards and the Promotion of Gender Equality at the Workplace (under the ITEC Programme, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs), Research Methods in Gender Issues in Labour, Gender and Labour Issues, Gender Labour Laws and International Labour Standards, Labour Reforms and Labour Codes in India, and Gender, Work and Social Protection, among others. She has also contributed to the VVGNLI–ITCILO (Turin) one- year training programme titled Employment Policies: Moving from Fragility to Resilience for Afghan nationals. As part of this initiative, she coordinated two key modules: Entrepreneurship and Gender and Labour Towards Empowering Women in Fragile States.
She has published extensively in the form of books, research monographs, several papers and articles in peer-reviewed and reputed academic journals, chapters in edited volumes, book reviews and opinion pieces in national newspapers and digital dailies. She has authored five books the recent one being ‘Gender, Unpaid Work and Care in India (2022) by Routledge, London & New York. The other books authored by her include; ‘Changing Youth Culture in India: A Study of Young Urban Professionals’ (2017); Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany; ‘Globalization and Social Change in India’ (2012); Rawat Publications, Sociology of Indian Society (2011) and Social Problems (2011) Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.
Some of her other publications include; Implementation of Maternity Benefit Act in India (NLI Series,2025); Vulnerability Mapping and Identification of Alternative Livelihood for Women Beedi Workers in Telangana (NLI Series,2024); Time Spent on Unpaid Domestic and Caregiving Services by Children in India: Insights into gender, age and learning (2024), Unicef Innocenti Discussion Paper, Italy; Women and Violence in India: A Socio-legal Perspective (2024) chapter in a book on Ways of Being Indian: Essays on Religion, Gender and Culture by Speaking Tiger; ‘New Labour Codes and Implications for Women Workers’ in Economic and Political Weekly (2023); ‘Valuing Women’s Unpaid Work in India’ (2022) chapter in a book on Gender, Unpaid Work and Care in India by Routledge; Chapter on ‘Women’s Work in India and Covid 19:Insights from Labour Force Surveys and Emerging Challenges’(2022) in a book on Sociology of Covid 19 Pandemic in India by Har Anand Publications; ‘International Labour Standards and Promotion of Gender Equality at the Workplace (2022) in a book on Role of Labour in India’s Development by VVGNLI; Compendium paper on “Landscaping Prevalence and Trends in Child Work and Schooling and their Intersection in India” (2021) published from UNICEF Innocenti, Italy; “Evidence on Educational Strategies to address Child Labour in India and Bangladesh: Scoping Paper” (2021), Florence: UNICEF Innocenti ; Participation of Women in Labour Force (2021),prepared for the BRICS Employment Working Group (2021),NLI Studies Series no 146; ‘Women’s Participation in Domestic Duties and Paid Employment in India’,(2020) Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer, India; ‘Violence in Times of Covid 19:Lack of Legal Protection for Women Informal Workers’,(2020), Economic and Political Weekly, Engage, September 2020 (co-authored); ‘Women’s Work in India: Updates from Periodic Labour Force Survey’(2020) , Labour and Development, June, 2020 (co-authored); ‘The Invisible Workers: Capturing Home based Work in India’ (2019), Antyajaa Journal of Women and Social Change , Sage Publications; ‘Women Entrepreneurship in India: Evidence from Economic Census’ (2018), Social Change, Sage ; ‘Care Policies and Reconciliation of Work and Family Life: Experiences of Women Workers’ (2017),Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer, India; Regulating International Labour Migration: Issues in the context of Recruitment Agencies in India (2014), Contemporary South Asia, Routledge etc.
She has represented India at several prestigious international forums. She was part of the Indian delegation at the BRICS Employment Working Group Meeting held from 21–24 February 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was also a part of the Indian delegation to 80th Session of the Board of the International Training Centre (ITC) of the ILO in 2017 in Turin, Italy, and earlier received specialized training in Labour Market Statistics at the ITC- ILO, Turin in 2015. She has been an expert in a Writer’s Workshop and has developed a module on ‘Gender and Labour towards Empowering Women in Fragile States’ in collaboration with ITC-ILO (2016) at ITC-ILO, Italy. Most recently, she was invited as a speaker at a workshop on ILO Convention No. 189 (2011) concerning domestic workers, held from (8–11 November 2024) in Yerevan, Armenia organized by the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia (CTUA) and the ILO.
She has presented several research papers at prominent international and national conferences and seminars. Her international presentations include: The 45 th International Conference on Time Use Research (2023) at Tokya, Japan; ‘Building Research Collaboration with India and Kyrgystan to explore the role of Universities in developing skills for Smart cities (2019) Glasgow, United Kingdom; ‘International Conference on “Long-term Perspectives on Home based Work (2018) at Stockholm, Sweden; the 38th International Conference on Time Use Research (2016), Seoul National University, Korea and 37th International Conference on Time use Research (2015) at Ankara, Turkey. She was also invited as an expert to the international workshop on Antimicrobial Resistance and Labour Migration across Healthcare Boundaries in Northern South Asia, organized by Aarhus University, Denmark, and B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, held in Kathmandu from 27–29 November 2022.
She has been a resource person to several Universities and institutions in India and delivered special lectures at National Statistical Service Training Academy (NSSTA), Greater Noida,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi, Ambedkar University, University of Delhi, Central University of Haryana, South Asian University, New Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development (NILERD), Arjun Singh Centre for Distance Learning, Jamia Millia Islamia , Amity University, Indian Institute of Public Administration and Malviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University. She has also delivered Video and Radio talks for National Institute of Open Schooling and Radio talks for Gyan Vani, IGNOU. She is involved in reviewing and developing academic curriculum and e-content of various Universities and Institutions in India and is also a member of Board of Studies and in the Panel of Experts for Evaluation of PhD thesis of several Universities. She is also a Research Advisory Board member of several institutions and universities in India and abroad.
She is a member of the Scientific Research Advisory Board of several universities and academic institutions, both in India and internationally. She has served as a resource person for numerous universities and institutions, delivering invited lectures and academic sessions on gender, labour laws and development-related themes. Her engagements include special lectures at institutions such as the National Statistical Service Training Academy (NSSTA) Greater Noida ,National Defence Training Academy Delhi, Central University of Haryana ; Jawaharlal Nehru University; University of Delhi; Ambedkar University; Central University of Haryana; South Asian University, New Delhi; Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU); National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development (NILERD); Arjun Singh Centre for Distance Learning, Jamia Millia Islamia; Amity University; Bennett University, Indian Institute of Public Administration; and the Malviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University.
She has also contributed to academic outreach through educational media, including video lectures and radio talks for the National Institute of Open Schooling and Gyan Vani, IGNOU. Actively involved in academic development, she participates in reviewing and designing curricula and e-content for universities and institutions across India. She serves on Boards of
Studies and is a panel expert for the evaluation of Ph.D. theses at several institution.