Thesis title

‘Socio-legal consequences of the digitalisation of welfare delivery: A case study of India’s direct benefit transfer system’ [provisional] 

Supervisors

Dr Orla Lynskey and Professor Tarun Khaitan

Research interests/areas

Technology Law, Data Governance, Data Protection & Privacy, Public Law, Administrative Law in the Digital State, Welfare Rights, Cash Transfers, Financial Infrastructures, Information Systems, Organizational Theory

Malavika is a lawyer with a background in policy-focused research, studying the impacts of digitisation on low-income individuals in India. Her doctoral research at the LSE examines the interplay of law and technology within information systems in the public sector (specifically digital identity and welfare infrastructures) and their implications for the relationship of the State with individuals.

Malavika is a Senior Fellow at the Future of Privacy Forum, sharing knowledge on developments in India on data protection, data governance and digital regulation. She is visiting faculty for the Daksha Fellowship (India’s first law & technology fellowship programme for lawyers) at Sai University, India. 

Until 2020, Malavika built and led the Future of Finance Initiative (for Indian non-profit Dvara Research in partnership with the Gates Foundation) focussed on issues at the intersection of technology, inclusion, and finance.  Her research has been referred to and cited by official bodies including India’s Data Protection Committee chaired by Justice Srikrishna (2017 - 2019) and committees of the Reserve Bank of India. Malavika’s previous experience includes several years with the global law firm Allen & Overy LLP in London (during which time she was seconded to the Financial Markets Law Committee established by the Bank of England) as well as stints with social impact investors Acumen and Big Society Capital.

Malavika was a 2018 fellow of the Chevening Financial Services fellowship at King’s College London, and a 2016 fellow of the On Purpose social enterprise leadership programme. She holds a B.A., LL.B.(Hons) degree from the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad and an MPhil in Public Policy from the University of Cambridge.

Affiliations / Memberships

Admitted as an Advocate, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu, India, 2008

Admitted to the Roll of Solicitors, England & Wales, UK, 2011

Member of the Asian Privacy Scholars Network, from 2018

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA), from 2023

Awards / Scholarships

Cambridge Trust Scholarship (2014-2015)  

Scholarship to pursue PhD studies (2021-2025) 

Selected as Highly Commended in the LSE Class Teacher Awards 2022-23