His graduate thesis, "Borrowing in the Face of Adverse Weather Shocks: Evidence from Agrarian India", exemplifies the spirit of the KN Raj Memorial Award by addressing a pressing contemporary challenge—climate-induced financial vulnerability in rural India—through rigorous empirical analysis and deep engagement with micro-level data. Using NSS-AIDIS data linked with district-level rainfall shocks, Sen uncovers asymmetric borrowing responses to floods and droughts, revealing that flood-affected households borrow intensively through formal, community-based cooperative institutions, while informal insurance networks weaken under stress. His work not only advances our understanding of rural credit behavior in the face of climate volatility, but also offers crucial policy insights into strengthening structural resilience in agrarian economies—reflecting Prof. Raj’s enduring legacy of empirically grounded and socially relevant economic research.

His graduate thesis, "Structural Inequities in India’s Labour Market: Caste, Religion, and Spatial Barriers to Contractual Employment," exemplifies the award's commitment to research that rigorously confronts India's deep-rooted economic inequalities. Through an extensive analysis of three rounds of the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the study demonstrates how caste, religion, gender, and rural-urban divides shape unequal access to written job contracts and employment-linked social security. Despite rising education levels, historically marginalized groups—including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Muslims—continue to face significant structural barriers to formal employment. With a methodologically robust approach anchored in human capital and institutional theories, the thesis not only maps the persistence of exclusion in India’s labour market but also proposes targeted, policy-relevant interventions. This work reflects Prof. K.N. Raj’s legacy by integrating empirical depth with a deep concern for structural justice in economic systems.

His graduate thesis, "Dry Laws, Brighter Futures? Analyzing the Impact of Alcohol Ban on Children’s Educational Achievement in Bihar," awarded Special Mention in the 2025 KN Raj Memorial Prize, exemplifies empirically grounded inquiry into complex public policy dilemmas. Using a triple-difference estimation strategy with NFHS data and Bihar's 2016 alcohol prohibition as a natural experiment, the study probes whether curbing alcohol consumption translates into improved child education outcomes—a key proxy for public good provision. Contrary to intuitive expectations, Singh finds no significant educational gains post-ban, attributing this to ineffective enforcement, persistent black markets, and limited household expenditure reallocation. By critically unpacking the disconnect between policy intent and ground-level outcomes, the thesis offers a nuanced contribution to public economics and policy evaluation, aligning closely with Prof. K.N. Raj’s vision of research that interrogates structural constraints and real-world institutional effectiveness.