Amita Dhanda | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Professor and Academician |
Amita Dhanda is an Indian academic, activist, and Professor Emerita (formerly professor of law) atNALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. She was appointed one of the fourteen members of theNational Advisory Council for the implementation of theRTE Act in 2010. She is on theAcademic Council ofTamil Nadu National Law School.[1] She started her career as a researcher at the Indian Law Institute, Delhi, and became a full-time Professor atNALSAR.[2] She has contributed to the research of mental health and disability studies in India and is the head of the Centre for Disability Studies at NALSAR. Amita Dhanda identifies as a feminist[2] and has written several papers based in gender. She has written three books, and is a guest writer forKafila and a few other online news magazines and national daily newspapers. She carries out Interpretation Of Statutes.
Amita Dhanda pursued LLM and then completed her PhD fromDelhi. In 1984, she started as a researcher inIndian Institute of Law, Delhi.Justice Bhagwati, who was the then Chief Justice of India decided to have her clerk for him based on her capabilities. She worked at the Institute for 15 years, that is from 1984 till 1999. She learned how to write, research, edit and teach with the assistance of renowned scholars. In her time with the Institute, she did hands on research on the mental health of prisoners in West Bengal and also suggested amendments to theDisability Act of 1995.[2] From 1999, she joined as a full-time professor inNALSAR, where she teaches Administrative Law, Law and Poverty, Law and Literature and Judicial Process.[2]
Amita Dhanda teaches legal theory, law and poverty, and sexually disoriented courses on pedagogy and inclusion. Dhanda became a professor of law and dean (academic) atNational Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) at Hyderabad after a five-year stint as a research faculty at the Indian Law Institute, Delhi. At NALSAR, she is head of the Centre for Disability Studies. She has written extensively on the legal position of persons with mental disability.[3][4][5][6]Legal Order and Mental Disorder (published in 2000), Dhanda's book on the legal status of persons with mental illness is a pioneering effort in the field.[7] She is also the Author ofDecolonisation of Legal Knowledge andEngendering Law: Essays in Honor of Latika Sarkar. She has also edited N S Bindra'sInterpretation of Statutes.
Dhanda was involved in the negotiations of theUN Ad Hoc Committee that drafted theUN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted in December 2006.[8] In 2011, she was a leader of a committee set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India for drafting a law on the rights of people with disabilities. Dhanda is assisting the Government of Gujarat in formulating a rights sensitive mental health law. Her research expertise has been drawn upon by international and national institutions such as theWHO. She is also activist for patients rights,[9] particularly in attempting to give agency and protections to the mentally ill, as well as to protect women who are divorced on the basis of "mental illness".[10] Dhanda's research has been referred to by premier institutions, both nationally and internationally, such asWHO,UNICEF,NHRC,NCW,NIMH.[11] She is also acontributing writer forScroll, an online political and cultural news magazine. She has also written several articles forThe Hindu as well, a renowned national daily. The other online magazines and National Dailies she has written for includeFrontline,Kafila andIndian Express.
Dhanda is[when?] engaged in research work in mental health, child rights, disability and environment.
Professor Dhanda accused NALSAR Vice Chancellor Veer Singh of sexual harassment in 2011.[12] She claimed that the Vice Chancellor sent her a mail on 22 December which contained a sexual innuendo; the Vice Chancellor denied this and said that he would file for defamation against Dhanda,[13] but did not. A committee later examined and dismissed the allegations.[14]