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I am Dr. Neetu Batra, a Senior Fellow at the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), affiliated with the Giri Institute of Development Studies in Lucknow. With a PhD in Sociology and a specialisation in Social Gerontology, my academic journey over the past fifteen years has extensively explored the lived realities, vulnerabilities, and resilience of India’s ageing population through sociological and anthropological lenses.

My current research, “Mental Health Matters: A Holistic Approach to Older Adults in Uttar Pradesh,” employs ethnographic methods and participatory rural appraisal to examine how mental health intersects with caste, gender, family structures, and local ecology. This aligns closely with the anthropological commitment to contextual and immersive fieldwork. I have also explored institutional care, intergenerational transfers, elder isolation, and age-related stigma, which is evident in my works published in The Eastern Anthropologist, Indian Journal of Gerontology, and Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems.