As the Smitu Kothari Fellowship marks its 9th anniversary, the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) is pleased to invite applications for the 2026 Fellowship. Since its inception in 2018, the fellowship has encouraged young writers, researchers, and storytellers to critically examine the world of development finance, looking beyond the rhetoric of lending and "development" to uncover its social, political, and economic implications.
This year's fellowship turns its focus to India's cities - spaces where finance increasingly shapes everyday life, often in ways that deepen inequality, transform public spaces, and exclude vulnerable communities. The two-month fellowship, beginning in August 2026, invites fellows to produce a well-researched investigative article, photo essay, short documentary, or other multimedia story exploring the relationship between finance and urban life.
Overarching Theme: Cities, Finance & the People
Fellows are encouraged to examine cities through a financial and economic lens. Suggested themes include, but are not limited to:
1. Urban Finance & Budgets: Municipal finance, city budgets, and fiscal priorities.
2. Housing & Displacement: Land, finance, housing rights, and urban evictions.
3. Urban Commons & Inclusive Cities: Ownership, governance, and access to public resources.
4. Informal Economy: Financial exclusion, precarious livelihoods, and urban labour.
5. Climate, Risk & Urban Inequality: Who bears the financial and social costs of climate change in cities?
6. The Digital City: Technology, surveillance, fintech, and urban governance.
7. Infrastructure Failures & Accountability: Why urban infrastructure fails despite significant public investment.
8. Urban Governance & the Right to the City: Democracy, participation, and accountability in city governance.
CFA reserves the right not to award fellowships if the applications do not meet a minimum standard.
Fellows may explore (but are not limited to) the following areas:
Urban Finance & Budgets: Analysis of municipal finance, city budgets, and fiscal priorities.
Housing & Displacement: Intersections of land, finance, and housing rights.
Urban Commons & Inclusive Cities: Understanding who owns, controls, and benefits from urban public resources.
Informal Economy: Financial exclusion and precarious livelihoods.
Climate, Risk & Urban Inequality: Understanding who bears the cost of climate change in cities.
The Digital City: Technology, finance, and governance.
Infrastructure Failures & Accountability: Investigating why urban infrastructure often fails despite significant public investment.
Urban Governance & the Right to the City: Examining questions of democracy, participation and accountability in city governance.
One comprehensive analytical article of 1000-1500 words on the topic proposed, by the end of the Fellowship or a short documentary/ photo essay based on the proposal.
Fellows are expected to get their articles published in a mainstream publication after approval.
Present their findings on the topic to CFA post the completion of the Fellowship.
Selected fellows would be mentored by .
Rakesh Dewan, senior journalist, currently, the Editor of Sarvodaya Press Service, he has worked previously with Dainik Bhaskar, Tehelka and other publications in senior positions.
We have sector-specific mentors, to bring deeper thematic guidance and support to the programme.
Copyright: All copyright of the work remains with the authors. However, CFA reserves the right to translate and publish the work after giving due credits.
The Fellows may be required to attend a program to present their work.
About the organization:
Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) engages in critical analysis, monitoring and critique of the role of financial institutions – national and international, and their impact on development, human rights and the environment, amongst other areas in India. The Centre partners with a range of civil society groups, social movements and community groups to ensure that the financial institutions are transparent and accountable to the people they exist to serve. However, we also look at the South Asia region and seek to reflect a global perspective, especially given the globalised nature of international finance in the twenty-first century.
Smitu Kothari was a distinguished environmentalist and scholar-activist, who was involved in ecological, cultural and human rights issues. Throughout his life, he tried to collectively forge a national and global alternative that is socially just and ecologically sane.
Trained in physics, communications and sociology, Kothari taught at the Cornell and Princeton Universities in the US. He was also a Contributing Editor to The Ecologist and Development. As a prolific writer and editor, he wrote extensively on critiques of contemporary economic and cultural development, financing of developmental projects, developmental displacement and social movements. Some of the books he edited are: Voices of Struggle: Social Movements in Asia (2006); Voices of Sanity, In Search of Democratic Space (2002); A Watershed in Global Governance? An Independent Assessment of the World Commission on Dams; The Value of Nature: Ecological Politics in India (2003); Out of the Nuclear Shadow (with Zia Mian, 2001); Rethinking Human Rights: Challenges for Theory and Action (1991); The Non-Party Political Process: Uncertain Alternatives (with H. Sethi, 1988).
For any queries, please write to fellowship@cenfa.org
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