Governing Board Members

Shri O.P. Rawat

Chairman

Shri Rawat is a retired 1977 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. He served the Government of Madhya Pradesh and Government of India in various positions. He was the 22nd Chief Election Commissioner of India in 2018. He has also served as the Public Enterprise Secretary and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defense, Government of India, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Principal Secretary (Woman and Child Development), Principal Secretary (Tribal Welfare) and Vice Chairman of Narmada Valley Development Authority in Madhya Pradesh.

Dr. Indira Hirway

Treasurer

Noted Economist and Professor, Labour Economics

At present she is the Director of Centre For DevelopmentAlternatives (CfDA), Ahmedabad. She has been  the President of the Indian Society for Labour Economics and was a faculty member at theGandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad (GLI).  She specializes in rural development and environmentally sustainable development programmes.

Ms. Nafisa Barot

Member

Noted Gender Specialist  & Social Worker

An eminent expert on water, Gender and conflict transformation. She was also the Managing Trustee of Utthan and Founder Director of Mahiti. She has been a member of several national and international committees on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

Ms. Sandra Shroff

Member

Renowned Industrialist and Social Worker.

At present she is the Vice Chairperson of United Phosphorous Ltd. She has made a major contribution towards the industrial growth at Ankleshwar and Vapi and is closely associated with FICCI and Assochem. She spearheads various social initiatives in the education, health and rural development sector in remote and tribal belt of South Gujarat.

Dr. Jayanti Ravi

Member

Civil Servant

She is a senior officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS). At present she is the Commissioner of Health at Government of Gujarat, India. She has also served as Commissioner and Secretary, Rural Development and Commissioner Higher Education, Govt of Gujarat. She is a visiting faculty at the Harvard University.

Prof Tushaar Shah

Member

Noted economist and International Expert on Water Management

At present, he is Senior Fellow, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Anand, India. He is known for his pioneering studies on groundwater management and he is currently involved in developing Solar Power Cooperatives. He was the former Director of the Institute of Rural Management at Anand in India. He has served on the boards of several academic institutions and NGOs and currently is on the board of the ICICI Bank.

Shri Sunil Parekh

Member

Noted Management Consultant and Expert on CSR activities

He is a senior Mentor and involved in incubation of several start-ups.  At present, he is the Advisor, Zydus Cadilla Healthcare Ltd. He also serves Gujarat CSR Authority as Advisor and on the board of  several companies.

Dr Sankar Bijay Datta

Member

Academic & professional development worker.

At present, he is the Head, Indian Livelihood School. He has been engaged in rural livelihood promotion / support activities for more than three decades since the early 1980s. He was a Professor and Head in the Azim Premji University,  Faculty of IRMA and IIM-A. He is founder member of BASIX, IGS and PRADAN etc.

Mr. Jacob Ninan

Member

Ex. Executive Trustee and CEO of Axis Bank Foundation till October 2020.

He spent over 3 decades as a career banker and Forbes Magazine has listed him in the top 100 CEOs in Middle East. He has been associated with development sector focusing on rural livelihoods. He played an active part in setting up of Village Social Transformation Mission in partnership with Maharashtra Government. He is on the board of credible NGOs.

Mr. Mohan Sharma

Member

Development Professional and Practitioner

At present, he is the Executive Director of Development Support Centre and has been active in the field of Natural Resource Management and Livelihood Promotion for past several years. He is a Governing Board Member of Indian Network of PIM and is also serving as an Expert Director of  Gujarat Farmer Producer Company, a federation of FPOs in Gujarat.