Sheila Bhalla

Sheila Bhalla (1933-25 September 2021) was a Canadian-Indian labor economist and trade union activist.

She was professor emerita at the School of Social Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and also taught at Panjab University, Chandigarh. Her work focused on agricultural and labor economics in the Indian state of Haryana.

Biography and education Sheila Scott was born in 1933 in Canada. Her father, J.C. W. Scott, was a physicist. She met her husband, the Indian economist, G.S. Bhalla, while they were both undertaking post-graduate research at the London School of Economics. After her marriage, she moved to India with Bhalla, and lived there for the rest of her life. During her time in India, she became fluent in the Panjabi language. She died in 2021, in Puducherry, India.

Career In 1969, Bhalla and her husband both joined the faculty of Panjab University, where they taught economics. They were closely involved in establishing a teachers' union at Panjab University. Bhalla's research has been published in Economic and Political Weekly, The Journal of Peasant Studies, Social Scientist,

Bhalla was also closely involved with agricultural labor movements and unionization, and worked with the All India Kisan Sabha, consulting with them on economic research relating to labour, agriculture, as well as the All India Agricultural Workers Union. In 2019, she was one of a group of 250 scholars and civil servants who wrote to the Indian Government to flag concerns about weaknesses in the functioning of the MNREGA, which is a rural employment guarantee scheme in India.