Public Policy Forum & LITFest 2022:
Public Policy for Digital Transformation

Arjun Munda

Hon’ble Minister of Tribal Affairs

Arjun Munda is the current Minister of Tribal Affairs in the Second Modi ministry. He was also Chief Minister of Indian state of Jharkhand. He has also served as a member of parliament having been elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Jamshedpur constituency in the 2009 parliamentary elections. BJP’s central leadership also appointed him a National General Secretary of the party recognising his strong credentials as a popular mass leader and his significant contributions in strengthening the party in his state.

During his tenure, Jharkhand got the 1st Lokayukta and the State successfully conducted the 34th National Games in 2011. His government introduced an e-tender system in government contracts to bring transparency and efficiency and to provide equal opportunity in the procurement process. He also took initiatives for setting up of new power plants with a view to making Jharkhand a power surplus state.

Arjun Munda was born on 3 May 1968 in Khrangajhar, Jamshedpur to a religious family of Ganesh and Saira Munda. After completing high school education in the Jamshedpur area, he graduated from Ranchi University and went on to earn a PG Diploma in Social Sciences from Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Meenakshi Lekhi

Chairperson, Joint Parliamentary Committee on PDP Act

A second-term elected Parliamentarian and distinguished lawyer of the Supreme Court with a career spanning over three decades. She is a renowned socio-political activist who has been associated with institutions including the National Commission of Women, Sakshi, NIPCD amongst several others. In addition to having worked extensively with several not-for-profits, she has served as a member of the drafting committee of “Women Reservation Bill” & “Problem of Sexual Harassment at Workplace”; the latter being passed by the Parliament of India. She even represented the media in court to get the ban on media coverage of the case proceedings revoked and she was successful in this effort.

She has been actively involved in women empowerment, she took up the case of the permanent commissioning of women in the Indian armed forces with the Supreme Court. She was the lawyer of the victim in the Shanti Mukund Hospital rape case; took up the case of Promotion Policy for Army Officer and the Permanent Commission of women in the Indian armed forces in the Supreme Court. The judgement has paved the way for women officers to hold command posts.

Most recently, as the Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 she has been entrusted with ideating on a legislation which has the potential to shape and protect the privacy, personal dignity and security of India and its citizens. The committee has recently asked some very pertinent and tough questions to several of the world’s leading social media, technology and e-commerce companies operating in India about their policies and practices with regards to the safety and security of the privacy of Indian citizens and their personal data.

Positions Held

• 2010: National Vice President, BJP Mahila Morcha
• May 2014: Elected to 16th Lok Sabha
• June 2014 – May 2019: Member, House Committee
• Sep 2014 – Jul 2016: Member, Committee on Privileges; Member, Press Council of India; Member, Standing Committee on Urban Development
• Dec 2014 – May 2019: Member, Joint Committee on Offices of Profit
• Jul 2016 – May 2019: Chairperson, Committee on Privileges
• Nov 2017: Member, Press Council of India
• June 2019 onwards: Member, Panel of Chairpersons, Lok Sabha
• July 2019 onwards: Chairperson, Committee on Public Undertakings
• September 2019 onwards: Member, Standing Committee on External Affairs
• October 2019 onwards: Member, Committee on Privileges
• December 2019 onwards: Chairperson, Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019
• Nov 2019 onwards: Member, General Purposes Committee, Lok Sabha; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Defence

Amitabh Kant

Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog

Mr. Amitabh Kant is presently CEO of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI). He is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, IAS (Kerala Cadre: 1980 batch). He is the author of Branding India – An Incredible Story. Mr. Kant has been a key driver of the “Make in India”, Startup India, “Incredible India” and God’s Own Country” initiatives that positioned India and Kerala State as leading manufacturing and tourism destinations. These campaigns have won several international awards and embraced a host of activities – infrastructure development, product enhancement, private-public partnership and positioning and branding based on extensive market research. Mr. Kant also conceptualized the “Atithi Devo Bhavah” – “Guest is God” campaign to train Taxi Drivers, Guides, immigration officials and make them stake holders in the tourism development process. Mr. Amitabh Kant was also the National Project Director of the Rural Tourism Project of UNDP which made a paradigm shift in spreading tourism to Indian villages which had core-competency in handicrafts, handloom and culture.

Suresh Prabhu

Member, Rajya Sabha & G20 and G7 Sherpa

In my considered belief, commitment unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision that serves us with an opportunity to turn dreams into reality. With a firm focus on achieving desired results, I have always been a strong votary of reforms and turnarounds in my endeavors to bring about a positive transformation in the society. My credentials have propelled me into the league of top three Indian leaders by Asia Week magazine in its lead story “Giant on the Move”, further strengthening my resolve to strike a healthy balance between human development and fragile ecosystem.

Before taking over as the Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Government of India, he handled several other ministries like the Railways to Environment and Power and Heavy Industries. As Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s Sherpa at the G 20 Summit, he had the good fortune of being a personal representative of the head of a state and Chairman of the Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers Project. He staunchly believed that all projects can be taken to their logical fruition with a clear blueprint and stipulated deadlines.

As a Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh and Haryana and, four-time Lok Sabha MP from Rajapur in Maharashtra, his doors have always been open to people in his perception that it eliminates red tape and promotes inclusive thinking.

Amarjeet Sinha

Advisor to the Prime Minister

Amarjeet Sinha is currently serving as Advisor to the Prime Minister of India.

Some of the other distinguished roles played by Amarjeet Sinha during his career include Principal Secretary – Education, Additional Secretary – Ministry of Human Resources Development, Additional Secretary – Ministry of Rural Development, and Secretary – Ministry of Panchayat Raj. As an in-charge of administrative reforms and personnel and general administration in the central government during 2018 – 2019, he played a significant role in contributing to nation building.

Amarjeet Sinha has over three decades of experience in the social sector. Some of his notable contributions occurred within the realms of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and the National Rural Health Mission. He has also trained several young IAS Officers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.

Nagendra Nath Sinha

Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development

Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha, is a 1987 batch IAS Officer of Jharkhand cadre and is currently serving as Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Government of India. Born on 29 July 1964, Shri Sinha holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and also Master of Health Science (Population & Family Health).

Prior to this, Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha was working as Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development, Govt. of Jharkhand where he played a pivotal role in organizing rural poor, creating sustainable livelihood & employment opportunities & NRM based development.

He has served in the state of Jharkhand in major departments including PWD, Mines, Industry , IT among others. He has to his credit several landmark projects in Jharkhand including Mega Sports Complex & Games Village at Ranchi, Ranchi Ring Road, State Data Center. He has also been instrumental in development of several policies and documents viz. PWD Code 2012, public private partnership policy etc.

His major interests are in the fields of sustainable development, IT, Infrastructure, Health and Institution Building.

Sunil Kumar

Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Sunil Kumar, is a 1987 batch IAS Officer of Uttar Pradesh Cadre and is currently serving as Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Born on 15th October 1963, Mr Kumar holds a degree in Political Science and also Master in Sociology.

Prior to this, Mr Sunil Kumar was working as special secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He has served in the state of Uttar Pradesh in major departments including Information & Broadcasting, Planning & Prog Implementation, Finance, Rural Development among others. His major interests are in the fields of Agriculture, Rural Development and Information Technology.

Bhaskar Pramanik

Former Chairman, Microsoft India

Mr. Bhaskar Pramanik is an accomplished management leader and professional from the Technology Industry. He has held National and Global Leadership positions in leading Multinational Technology Companies. He has worked in India, Singapore, and the US.

He was on the Executive Committee of NASSCOM, the National Committee of CII and AMCHAM

He recently retired from the Board of SBI, India’s largest Bank. He retired as Chairman of Microsoft India in September 2017 after a successful 45 years career in the technology industry. Before this, he was the Managing Director of Oracle Corporation and Sun Microsystems in India. He was also the Global VP for Commercial Systems at Sun Microsystems Inc based out of Menlo Park, CA.

He is currently an Independent Board member and Advisor to companies. He advises startups and has also invested in a number of them. He is also on the Advisory Board of Schulich University, Toronto, Canada, and Bennet University, Noida, India. He speaks regularly at Industry and Leadership forums.

His major interests are in areas of Culture and Strategy; Leadership and Organization Excellence; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Transformation; and the future social and economic impact of Advanced Technologies.

Karuna Gopal

President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities

Ms Karuna Gopal is an internationally acclaimed Thought leader, Innovator and Advisor on Smart Cities. She is the Founder President of Foundation for Futuristic Cities, a think tank that has influenced Urban Transformation in India for over a decade.

Ms Gopal contributed to the design of the ‘100 Smart Cities Mission‘ of India and has been invited to speak at the launch of the Mission by the Prime Minister. Her innovation SCULPT your CITY -2009 has shaped the Mission guidelines and has been declared a National Best Practice.

Governments of Singapore, Sweden, UK, Philippines, UAE, Turkey, Israel and USA have invited her for inputs on Smart Governance.

In the past, she served as an Urban Expert for The WORLD BANK, DFID (Department for International Development, UK), USAID (United States Agency for International Development) & ADB (Asian Development Bank).

In 2015, Ms Gopal was senior advisor, Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs on behalf of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She was also one of the urban experts to have carried out a mid-course evaluation of the National Mission Program ‘ Clean India – Swacch Bharat Abhiyan on behalf of Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Ajay Shah

Independent Scholar

Dr. Ajay Shah studied at IIT, Bombay and USC, Los Angeles. He has held positions at Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR), Department of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and National Institute for Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). He does academic and policy-oriented research on India, at the intersection of economics, law and public administration. His second book, co-authored with Vijay Kelkar, is “In service of the republic: The art and science of economic policy”, and was published in 2019 by Penguin Allen Lane. His areas of focus are macroeconomics, finance, health, and technology policy.

Pradeep S Mehta

Secretary General, CUTS International

Mr. Pradeep S Mehta (72) is the founder Secretary General of the Jaipur-based Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International), a leading economic policy research, advocacy and networking, non-governmental group in India, with offices in Nairobi, Lusaka, Hanoi, Accra, Geneva and Washington DC. CUTS was established in 1983 and has completed 35 glorious years.

Currently he is a Member of the CII’s International Trade Policy Council. He has served as: Member of the Board of Trade; Better Regulatory Advisory Group; and Steering Committee on Ecomark; Think Tank on “Framework for a National Policy on E-commerce” of the Government of India. Among several advisory positions, he has been and/or is honorary Adviser to the Commerce and Industries Minister of India, Trade, Commerce & Industry Minister of Zambia and to the Director General of the WTO.

A prolific writer, gifted speaker, skilled trainer and organizer in the social science field, Mehta has been named as one of the 30 most famous columnists in India by a leading newspaper in India. He has published/edited several books and papers on trade, investment, competition and development.

Ashwani Mahajan

National Coordinator, Swadeshi Jagran Manch

Dr. Ashwani Mahajan is the National Co-Convener of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), an Indian political and cultural organisation. SJM is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Dr. Mahajan is an author and columnist. He is an Associate Professor at PGDAV College, Delhi and has also been the Chief Editor of the Journal of Contemporary Indian Polity and Economy since 2011. He is also a Visiting Professor and Research Guide at Pacific University, Udaipur and Mewar University. He works as a researcher and activist on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international trade agreements.

As National Co-Convener of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, he has been instrumental in advocating for the evolution of economic policies. His policy interventions include withdrawal of controversial ordinance on land acquisition, getting field trials of GM crops policy revisited, FDI policy of the government especially retail trade and e-commerce.

Mike Seiferling

MPA Programme Director, School of Public Policy, University College London (UCL)

Mike is MPA Programme Director and Assistant Professor of Public Finance at the School of Public Policy, University College London (UCL) with research focused on the links between macroeconomics, finance, accounting, and political science. Specifically, these include taxation, budgeting, fiscal performance, public sector accounting and accountability, balance sheet analysis, statistics, and technological innovations in the public sector (cryptocurrency and democratic/collective choice mechanisms).

For the past ten years, Mike has worked as an expert for several international organizations (currently a short-term expert at the IMF, World Bank and UN) and private sector firms to improve financial literacy, debt management, fiscal transparency, and compliance with international standards in central banks, ministries of finance and commercial banks in over sixty countries worldwide. Previously, Mike worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (2011-2015) and completed his PhD from the London School of Economics in 2012.