Dr. Sekhar Bonu worked as the Director General, Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog from April 2019 to June 2022. Before joining NITI Aayog, Dr. Bonu worked at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, Philippines from 2004 to 2019. At ADB, he worked on health, urban infrastructure development and regional cooperation, mainly in the South Asia region.

Dr. Bonu worked in the Indian Administrative Services and served as a civil servant in Rajasthan between 1987-2003, among others, as District Magistrate, Director of Primary and Secondary Education, and Chief Executive Officer of state-owned enterprises. Dr. Bonu has a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder. He has a research interest in state capacity building, service delivery, outcomes measurements, etc. and has published in peer-review journals.

Uthara Narayan is the co-founder and chief change-maker at Buzz Women India and Gambia. Uthara's hopes to lead people to find their own voice and achieve their dreams by unleashing their potential.

At Buzz Women, she builds leadership capabilities (financial, business, personal development skills) in low-income women to take charge of their problems and combat poverty.

Apart from discovering social change she is a planned traveller, pretend optimist, determined organizer, trained singer, crafts hog, enthusiastic polyglot and amateur interior designer.

Sunil Kumar is an IAS officer of batch 1987 from the Uttar Pradesh cadre and most recently served as Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj before retiring in 2023.

He has been instrumental in strengthening the democratic governance processes by empowering institutions, enabling better participation, transparency and accountability in the Panchayati Raj Institution system.

He has contributed to improving the use of technology in governance by improving planning for localised SDGs through Gram Panchayat Development Plans and integration of Public Finance Management Systems in Panchayats. Sunil Kumar believes in values of respect, collaboration, empathy and honesty which is reflected in the work he does.

He teaches public policy at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and supports a range of non-governmental organisations.

Alok Rajan is a governance and economic policy professional, with more than ten years of experience in public service delivery reform, specifically in the service delivery interface between government, citizens, and businesses. In his current role at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Alok leads the work on state capacity, working on issues of public sector performance management, administrative data quality, and public financial management.

Previously, Alok worked at Oxford Policy Management for five years. Alok led OPM's Public Sector Governance team, spread across the UK, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, and Indonesia. Areas of work for the team included state capacity, center of government reforms, transparency and accountability, institutional reform, public sector innovation, strategic management and planning, civil service reform, capacity development, and multi-level governance. Prior to OPM, Alok worked for the World Bank Group for four years on various advisory assignments in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal; on issues pertaining to governance reform, business licensing reform, sector specific regulatory reform, regulatory enforcements and inspections, and investment policy.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Delhi University, an MBA in Finance from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, and a Master’s in Public Administration, from School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.

Dipa Sinha is an independent researcher. She was previously teaching Economics at the School of Liberal Studies, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD). Her areas of research include public policy, food and nutrition rights, public health, and gender.

She has been involved in academic as well as policy research on these topics for the last twenty years, in different capacities.

She has worked as an independent researcher and has led a number of primary studies evaluating programs such as the Public Distribution System, child-related nutrition programs, and maternity entitlement schemes.

She worked with the Office of Commissioners to the Supreme Court (on the Right to Food). She also has been part of large multi-country research teams including the study on Food Riots and Food Rights (hosted at the Institute for Development Studies, Sussex). She was a member of the project team of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), FAO for the report on Nutrition and Food Systems.

Dipa also contributes regularly to academic as well as popular publications.

Avani Kapur is Founder and Director of ResGov and also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. She is a public finance expert with nearly 2 decades of experience in studying India's welfare architecture including budget tracking, fund flows, data and governance systems and state capacity constraints as well as state-citizen engagements. Prior to this she was leading the Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research.

She has authored several articles, reports, and opinion pieces on state finances, India’s welfare architecture, and governance, and has conducted workshops and trainings with Indian Administrative Service officers, Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assemblies, Indian Economic Service Officers and Officers of the National Audit and Accounts Academy. In 2020, during the COVID 19 pandemic, she co-conceptualised the PULSE4Development platform seeking to bring the development community together to learn, share, and communicate better with each other. The platform hosts more than 112 organisations and over 200 individual members.

She is a Tech4Good Fellow, member of the WICCI Council of Ethics and on the editorial board of the Journal of Development Policy and Practice. Avani is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), in the United Kingdom and Smith College Massachusetts, US.

Mallika is a Senior Program Associate and founding team member at ResGov. She manages capacity building initiatives for civil society organizations and state partners, supports strategy for the Action vertical, and contributes to organizational planning and development. Previously, she worked with the Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy Research, and Group Ignus. Her interest lies in experimenting with methods to bridge policy research and practical implementation.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Hansraj College, University of Delhi, and a Master’s in Liberal Studies (Political Science) from Ashoka University. She has also pursued the Young India Fellowship and served as a Mother Teresa Fellow at Ashoka University’s Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy.

Swapna Ramtake is our Senior State Associate from Madhya Pradesh and a founding team member at ResGov. She is a skilled master trainer, community outreach expert and field researcher who can manage large field teams. She has over 20 years of experience and has worked in 6 states.

Swapna holds a Masters of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work from Amravati University, Maharashtra. In the past, she has worked at Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy Research, ASER and Pratham Education Foundation.

Kaushal Pathak is our State Associate from Madhya Pradesh and a founding team member at ResGov. His core strengths include survey planning and management, volunteer mobilisation, training and dissemination of research at different levels. He has over 15 years of experience and has worked in 4 states.

Kaushal holds a Masters in Commerce from Dr Hari Singh Gour University and a Masters in Social Work from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya, Madhya Pradesh. He has worked at Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy Research and Pratham Education Foundation.

Tajuddin Khan is our State Associate from Rajasthan and a founding team member at ResGov. He is skilled at facilitation, networking with different stakeholders and field research. Tajuddin is skilled at planning and executing large surveys that involve household and local government office visits. He has over 12 years of work experience and has worked in 5 states.

Tajuddin holds a Bachelor in Commerce from University of Rajasthan. In the past, he has worked at Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy Research, SRKPS Jaipur among other NGOs.

Uday Shankar is our State Associate from Bihar and a founding team member at ResGov. His expertise lies in facilitating capacity building programs for a wide range of stakeholders. He also supports field research with techniques such as secondary data collection, primary surveys among others.

Uday holds a Masters in Rural Management and Bachelor of Arts in History from Magadh University, Bihar. He began his career 11 years ago as a community trainer at Agragami India. He has also worked as a master trainer at ASER and at Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy Research.

Sidharth Santhosh is a Senior Research Associate and a founding team member at ResGov. He investigates how bureaucrats learn welfare governance, navigate working together, and manage citizen-state coalitions in India. Sidharth supports organisational strategy for fundraising and planning. He supports capacity building programs for bureaucrats, NGOs and university students.

Prior to joining ResGov, he worked at Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy Research and IIEP-UNESCO. Sidharth holds a Masters in Public Policy and Economics from Sciences Po, Paris, and a Bachelors in Economics from Christ University, Bangalore. He has served on the Youth Board at Reap Benefit and been a Young Curator and Learners Voice Fellow at the World Innovation Summit for Education (Qatar).

Tanya is a Senior Research Associate and a founding team member at ResGov. Her work focuses on strengthening welfare systems in India through participatory and gender-sensitive approaches. She has experience in analysing women-oriented welfare policies, particularly in the areas of maternal health, nutrition, and women's safety. Additionally, Tanya has worked on budget tracking and identifying state capacity challenges for critical welfare programmes.

Prior to joining ResGov, she worked with the Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research and City Sabha. Tanya holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from O.P. Jindal Global University and a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.

Reuben is a Senior Program Associate with ResGov. Currently based in Shillong, he manages the projects with the Government of Meghalaya, providing research and operational support as well as fostering strong partnerships and effective project implementation. He also assist with the PULSE4Development programme.

Previously, he was a consultant with the Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research.

Shailaja S, our Senior State Associate in Karnataka is an experienced facilitator, content developer and local government leader. She has served as an Upadhyaksha at a Panchayat in Karnataka in the past. She has trained elected women representatives, police officers and students.

Shailaja has over 24 years of work experience in a range of sectors working with local governments. Prior to joining us, she has consulted at Accountability Initiative at Centre for Policy Research, Sampoorna Swaraj Foundation, The Hunger Project and many community organisations.

Sharad Pandey is a Senior Research Consultant at the Foundation for Responsive Governance (ResGov). He holds an MA in Public Policy from Jindal Global University. His research focuses on public finance, specializing in union and state budgets, taxation, and climate finance. Sharad also serves as a consultant with the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) in New Delhi.

Previously, he worked with the Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research and Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS), contributing to projects in education, health, public finance, and governance. His research interests encompass public finance, education, sustainable development, and the labour market.

Laavanya is a Senior Research Associate with ResGov. Her interests lie in the space of digital governance, and she has explored questions of accountability and transparency at the intersection of tech and social security.

Prior to this, she worked with LibTech India based in Jharkhand. Laavanya is also affiliated with the Right to Food and Work Campaigns in India.

She holds a Bachelors in Economics from St.Stephen's College, Delhi University, and a Masters in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics.

Pritika Malhotra is a Senior Research Associate at the Foundation for Responsive Governance. She holds a Masters in International Social and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and has completed her B.A.LL.B (Hons.) from National Law University Delhi.

Previously, Pritika worked with the Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research, contributing to projects relating to social accountability and competency frameworks for bureaucrats. Her professional experience also includes roles at Teach for India and leading corporate law firms where she advised government bodies and multinational corporations on commercial disputes. She is particularly interested in researching education, public finance and governance.