Dr. Somnath Ghosh is the Founder Director of ILRT and also served as two terms as Board of Governors in ILRT in the past. Dr. Ghosh retired as Professor & Founding Dean (Academics) from Indian Institute of Management Kashipur. Prior to that he was professor and Chair of the doctoral program at MDI, Gurgaon. He has also held regular faculty positions at IIM Lucknow, Bangalore and Indore; International Management Institute, New Delhi and Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad.
For the past two decades he has been closely associated with the development sector as researcher, consultant, and board member. He has been closely associated with BASIX group in its journey of livelihood promotion. Dr. Ghosh was a consultant to The World Bank on three different occasions; Lead Consultant to Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Government of India; British Government’s Department of International Development (DFID), and to Public Health Foundation of India on such diverse issues as R&R of project affected people, livelihoods, and public health. While he was at IIM Kashipur, he was involved in a multi-year World Bank funded and monitored assignment related to Uttar Pradesh Health Systems Strengthening Project. And just recently, he was engaged by Johns Hopkins University to advise the restructuring of the Directorate of Medical Health of Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. It was this association with the development sector that led him to establish the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Development at IIM Kashipur which was able to garner ample research funding.
Dr. Dilip Kumar is retired Vice-Chancellor of Central Institute of Fisheries Education. He is a fisheries / aquaculture professional with over forty years of experience. He has worked with Indian (ICAR-CIFE, ICAR-CIFA, ICAR-IFRI) and International Organizations like UN-FAO, UN-UNDP, UNOPS, IFAD, World Bank and NACA in India, South and Southeast Asian countries and briefly in East African countries in various capacities. He has contributed to various studies on small-scale aquaculture, artisanal fisheries, community empowerment; institutional strengthening in the fisheries sector and also executed several fisheries based community empowerment and aquaculture development projects. He was Chairman of working Group on Fisheries for the preparation of XII five-year plan constituted by the Planning Commission, Government of India. He also prepared the ‘vision document for development of fisheries and aquaculture for the states of UP and Bihar. He also drafted fisheries sector development policy and investment plan for Nepal. Recently he worked for FAO as CTA for the formulation of “National Plan of Action for Poverty Alleviation and Rural Development in Myanmar through Agriculture”. He was also assigned by NITI Ayog to Chair a Sub-group for the development of guidelines for Livestock and Fisheries Sector Insurance. He has been adviser to Bihar Animal Sciences University and currently he is Adviser to Assam Fisheries Development Corporation. He is also contributing as Member in the Technical Committee for drafting National Fisheries Policy.
Seemantinee Khot – a farmer by choice, Sustainable Development Professional, Gender integration in Agriculture, Rural livelihoods, and Community Based Institutions. She has nearly four decades of experience in the development sector, 20 years of direct implementation with NGOs, 12 years of Bilateral Aid and UN assignments and 8 years in CSR and Sustainability Consulting. Completed several professional assignments across all the continents; alongside managing own family farm. She holds BA from Pune University, 1980 and MASW (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, 1982). Her concurrent engagements includes Senior Evaluation Specialist, FAO/UN: as Team leader and team member on evaluation missions for multi country Agriculture and Rural development, food security projects, Partner, CHHAYA Strategic Advisors, LLP a niche consulting firm that provides professional services to Corporate, SMEs, Non-profits, Govt. and Civil Society Organizations for enhancing sustainable development endeavours, Independent Director on the Boards of Suzlon Energy Limited, SE Forge, Suzlon Global Services Limited and Anik Financial Services Pvt Ltd., Founder Member, Asia, ‘Everywoman Everywhere’ an Initiative on Violence Against Women, Carr Center for Human Rights, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Faculty, Institute of Directors: CSR and Sustainability to Master Class for Directors on Boards of Indian Companies, Governing Board member of NGOs- Paryay, Institute of Livelihood Research & Training (ILRT), Association for Farm Renewal in Maharashtra (AFARM), Youth in Voluntary Action (YUVA) and YUVA Rural Association (YRA).
Bankim Chandra Nigam is a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) Officer of the 1980 batch. Before his retirement, he was Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of the Forest Force (HoFF), Jharkhand. He has also served as the special secretary in the departments of Welfare, Water Resources, Forests and Environment, and Managing Director of Jharkhand State Scheduled Castes Development Corporation (JSSCDC). During his tenure as the Managing Director of JSSCDC, he laid the foundation of the welfare activities of the corporation for the targeted group of people. Besides this, while in the Welfare Department, he has also worked as the nodal officer of the IFAD assisted Tribal Development Programme. He has also worked in close association with the Pradan for developing and executing a prototype of a development scheme for the sustainable economic empowerment of the tribal population of Jharkhand. He has a keen interest in the sustainable governance of Forests and the people residing in the fringe areas.
After his superannuation, he is serving as a member of the Expert Appraisal Committee (Infra-II) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, GOI. He is also working as an advisor to a start-up company “Floodkon” which works in the field of Water management. He has also started a YouTube Channel by the name of “SupraInfo”
Dr. Rabindra Kumar Singh is an M.P.S., State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, USA and Ph.D., L.L.B., M. Sc. (Chemistry), from Ranchi University. He has Joined Indian Forest Service in 1983 and has served in various positions which includes Principle Chief Conservator of Forests & HOFF, Chhattisgarh, Principle Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden, Chhattisgarh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation, New Delhi, Secretary, National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, New Delhi, Director, Chhattisgarh State Institute of Rural Development, Raipur, CEO, State Level Nodal Agency for Watershed, Director, CG Academy of Administration, Professor, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. Served as Member of various State and National level Committees.
Dr. Amir Ullah Khan is a Development economist and Professor at the Dr. Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute (MCRHRDI), Government of Telangana. He is a Visiting Professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Indian School of Business and at National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) in Hyderabad. Dr. Khan is a business columnist for the LiveMint. He has been Senior Advisor at the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Director at the India Development Foundation and Executive Director at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
