Welcome to the December edition of our monthly panel series! This month’s conversation, titled “Organizing Through the Grassroots,” will take place on December 18, 2025, at 9:30 AM EST / 8:00 PM IST.
We are thrilled to feature an inspiring group of panelists from diverse regions across India. Each of them is deeply involved in grassroots organizing within their own social and political contexts, leading powerful community-based interventions on the ground. Their work converges in meaningful ways, especially through a shared commitment to anti-caste praxis, which shapes and strengthens their approaches to collective action.
We invite you to join us for this rich and timely discussion, and to listen to their stories, experiences, and the transformative work they continue to lead.
Register here to attend: https://bit.ly/GlobalAntiCaste
Our speakers are
Pavani Surumala
Pavani Surumala is a grassroots social justice activist and the Program Coordinator of the Dalit Women’s Collective, where she works to strengthen Dalit women’s leadership, challenge caste–patriarchy, and build community-driven pathways to equity. As a Lead Facilitator in Gender Sensitization, Menstrual Hygiene, Mental Health, and Child Protection, she conducts awareness sessions and capacity-building programs that create safe, inclusive spaces for women, youth, and marginalized communities.
Holding a Masters in Social Work from Osmania University, Hyderabad, Pavani grounds her activism in feminist principles, trauma-informed practice, and rights-based advocacy. She collaborates with local networks and grassroots movements to amplify marginalized voices, nurture collective resilience, and support community-led efforts toward dignity, justice, and long-term social transformation.
Prashant Randive
Prashant Randive is a Dalit rights activist and the National Coordinator of the Savitribai Phule Resource Centre (SRC), where he works to advance social justice, anti-caste education, and community-led leadership across India. As the Former President of the All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association (AIISCA), Maharashtra, he has played a key role in mobilising Dalit youth, strengthening grassroots advocacy platforms, and amplifying Ambedkarite thought in public discourse.
A Chevening Scholar supported by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Prashant holds an MA in Social Anthropology from SOAS University of London, grounding his activism in rigorous scholarship and intersectional analysis. His work connects lived realities with global conversations on inequality, striving to build a more just and caste-free society through policy engagement, community empowerment, and transformative public dialogue.
Shalini Chauhan
Shalini Chauhan is a grassroots feminist activist and the Program Manager at Parvatiya Mahila Vikas Trust, Himachal Pradesh’s first Dalit women–headed organisation. She leads initiatives that strengthen Dalit women’s leadership, challenge caste and gender injustice, and build community-based platforms for empowerment in the Himalayan region. As Editor of Him Mat and Theatre Coordinator for the Trust, she uses writing, storytelling, and performance to document lived realities, spark dialogue, and mobilize collective resistance.
Shalini also serves on the Editorial Board of Hyund, a student-run magazine, and writes extensively on caste discrimination and the experiences of Pahari Dalit women. Holding MA degrees in English and Sociology from Himachal Pradesh University, she brings together academic insight and lived community narratives to drive transformative, justice-centered work rooted in the voices and struggles of the hills.
Santhosh Esram
Born in a remote village in Telangana, Santhosh Esram grew up studying in a modest makeshift hut school—an experience that shaped his lifelong commitment to marginalised communities. Drawing from his own childhood challenges, he founded the Bheem Children Happiness Centre to ensure that Adivasi-tribal children receive the educational opportunities he once lacked. Blending storytelling, grassroots engagement, and a passion for social change, Santhosh works to empower children across underserved regions. In his time away from the Centre, he works partly as a journalist to amplify the voices and concerns of marginalized people residing in rural hinterlands, ensuring their struggles and aspirations reach wider audiences. He holds a Masters in Sociology and Journalism & Mass Communication from Osmania University.
The panel will be chaired by Dr Rashmi Kumari.
Dr Rashmi Kumari is an Assistant Professor at the School of Education at Mahindra University, Hyderabad, India. Dr Kumari has a PhD in Childhood Studies from Rutgers University. Her doctoral dissertation, Shaping Indigenous Youths as National Subjection: Role of Education in Central India, is based on 13 months of immersive multimodal ethnographic fieldwork and four months of digital ethnography. In her dissertation, Rashmi examines how development and violence mark the lives of Indigenous children and youth in India. She contrasts discourses and experiences of development—State-led and community-initiated, policy-induced and based on local ancestral traditions— And development as envisioned by the state and the one desired by communities. She is currently working on her book manuscript based on this research. Parts of her dissertation have been published as book chapters and journal articles. Her latest under-review article, WhatsApp ‘Status’: Indigenous Storytelling Through Digital Media, is on everyday digital cultures among Indigenous youths where she argues that digital culture among Adivasi youth emboldens traditional storytelling practices. Rashmi published widely in popular media channels like Behenbox, and coordinated with Ekalavya to get Adivasi children's stories and artwork published in children's Hindi magazine Chakmak. These works can be found on Rashmi's website - rashmish.xyz.
The panel is hosted by the Global Anti-Caste Thought Graduate Working Group, Global Asias, Rutgers University and co-hosted by Rutgers Anti-Caste Collective, previously Fatima Ambedkar Birsa Periyar Phule Savitribai Students and Workers Association, Rutgers University.