PEOPLE

Arun Jain is the Founder of Polaris Group and Chairman & Managing Director of Intellect Design Arena Limited, the world’s first full spectrum Banking and Insurance Technology Products Company. Intellect powers over 240 leading Global Banks and Financial Institutions, with a revenue of INR 1351 Crores (USD 191 Mn) and an employee base of over 4500. Arun commenced his entrepreneurial journey by setting up Nucleus Software Workshop in 1986, Polaris Software in 1993 and Intellect in 2011.

As an evangelist of Design Thinking, his brainchild – FinTech 8012, the World’s First Design Center at Chennai dedicated to Financial Technology came into being. With the constant drive to better the community around him, he instituted Mission Samriddhi – a social impact enterprise dedicated to holistic human development in India, Ullas Trust – a social impact organisation working towards igniting less privileged young minds into realizing their true potential and START-UP Nukkad – a unique initiative for budding Entrepreneurs to understand their purpose and nurture and mentor their innovative thinking using 10X model.

Arun has been nominated as the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Information Technology Ranchi, Jharkhand, India recently by Hon’ble President of India. He is entrusted with the responsibility of the Chief Mentor of the FinTech Centre of Excellence at STPI, Chennai setup by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Govt. of India in association with the ELCOT, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. He holds/ has held prestigious positions in various other forums like National Software Product Mission (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Madras Management Association (MMA), and the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC).

Arun has been bestowed with numerous accolades including the Dronacharya Award 2019 by TiECON Chennai, ‘CII Lifetime Achievement Award’, ‘Lifetime Achievement Award at the Design Thinking Conclave & Awards 2018’, ‘Indo‐ASEAN Business Initiative Award’, Rotary Club’s ‘For The Sake of Honour Award’, Lions Clubs International award for “Youth Empowerment” ‘Pathfinders – Award for Excellence in IT & ITES recognized by Times Group’, ‘ICICI Venture – CII Connect Entrepreneur Award’, ‘Lions Clubs International award for Youth Empowerment’ and Business Mentor Award by Vikatan Group, one of South India’s leading media powerhouses. With a legacy of 93 years, Vikatan Group has been a pioneer in the media space in South India.

Arun holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering.

Yogesh Andlay, an Executive Council member of Mission Samriddhi mentors the organization with his unflinching zeal and passion for social impact enterprise projects. Being one of the promoters of Nucleus Software, Yogesh truly understands entrepreneurship and  mentors several IT startups and actively participates in several community activities.

An engineer from IIT Delhi, Yogesh has been Past-President of IIT Delhi Alumni Association and MD of Nucleus Software Exports Ltd.  Currently, Yogesh  mentors and provides his leadership skills to organizations such as School of Inspired Leadership, Innoflaps Remedy Pvt. Ltd, Grow Talent Company Pvt.Ltd, Nucleus Software Engineers P Ltd to name a few.

Ajay Kumar, an Executive Council member of Mission Samriddhi is passionate about empowering our farmers through his expertise on Agriculture policy and advocacy. Ajay is an Advisor to Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA) and was an IT consultant to Department of Agriculture, Madhya Pradesh Government.

Though his background is in Electrical Engineering with a B.Tech and M.Tech from IIT Delhi, Ajay’s core interests are grounded in Agriculture and integrated rural development. As a Planning Commission Member in Agriculture, Ajay advises several NGOs in the Agri sector, across the nation.

Dr. Narendra Mehrotra is an Executive Council member of Mission Samriddhi with a strong focus on sustainable community development through Agriculture and Health.

As Founder Secretary of the Jeevania Society, Lucknow, Dr. Mehrotra has spearheaded several community initiatives championing best practices in agriculture, health and science. All of these initiatives have been focused on sustainable and holistic development of the rural people through traditional Indian healthcare practices.

With a Masters in Biochemistry and Doctorate in Immunology from AIIMS, New Delhi and with his vast experience, Dr. Mehrotra serves on the Advisory Boards of more than 20 organizations across the nation, in the areas of Science and Technology, Alternative Medicine and Environment protection.

Manju Jain is an Executive Council member of Mission Samriddhi. Way back in 1997, Manju and Arun conceptualized the Ullas Workshops for empowering  talented children from less privileged communities. Today Manju is the Chief Advisor and is on the Board of Ullas Trust which has shaped more than 2 lac teenagers from Municipal, Corporation and Government schools across the nation.

Manju is deeply interested in empowering rural people take control of their destiny as responsible Gram Panchayat members and has developed specialized training modules for the same.

Kannan Narayanswamny (Kannan) is an Executive Council member of Mission Samriddhi with deep rooted expertise in funding, investing, incubating and starting small industry, over a 20 year period.

As Founder of “ Startup to Scaleup”, Kannan has advised several startups on scaling-up and several VC’s in value investing.

A prolific speaker, Kannan conducts workshops for Banks, financial institutions and business schools in venture capital. He teaches courses on venture capital and private equity as a visiting professor at IIM Ahmedabad. Kannan is also a regular contributor to Dataquest, Business Line and The Hindu addressing issues in the Indian software industry.

Anil is the Executive Director of Intellect Design Arena Ltd in Australia. His experience of more than 35 years in the global IT industry with most of it in Australia, has made Anil an ambassador for Indo Australian friendship and collaboration in the field of ICT. He was instrumental in creating, leading and mentoring NASSCOM Australia. Anil’s contributions to the aboriginal community have earned him recognition by the Australian Government.

An engineer by training, Anil has a BTech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi and a Post-graduation from the University of Wollongong in Instructional design. A multifaceted personality, Anil recently released his collection of poetry – Ek Mukt Jwar ( A tide unfettered).

Owing to his rich and diverse experience, Anil is a valuable member of the Leadership Advisory Council at Mission Samriddhi.

Dr. Manju Verma, is a renowned Opthamologist and the Chairperson of the Advisory Council on Healthcare at Mission Samriddhi.

With a Fellowship, a Doctorate in Ocular immunity and a Post graduate Fellowship in Ophthalmology from Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Dr. Manju has utilized her rich expertise to serve the underprivileged through a number of charitable projects. She travels to India regularly to support projects aimed at improving the eye health of both children and adults via screening programs and cataract surgery. Her association with the A D K Jain Memorial Trust and A D K Jain eye care have resulted in several thousand cataract surgeries for the poor in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Dr. Ruma Gupta is an MBBS and MD in Ophthalmology. With more than a decade of experience in performing eye screening programs as well as cataract surgeries for the poor, Dr Ruma is focused on providing compassionate eye-care to the rural poor in the outskirts of Delhi and UP. Owing to her rich experience at ADK Jain Memorial Trust and ADK Jain Eyecare, Dr Ruma is a valuable member of the Advisory Council on Community Health at Mission Samriddhi.

Dr. Uma Gupta has been relentlessly serving the poor for the past 45 years as a trained Homeopathic consultant. Over the past 22 years, she has diligently worked to improve the vision of villagers in Baghpat district ,UP through several thousand eye screening camps run by the ADK Jain Memorial Trust and ADK Jain EyeCare.

Dr Gupta is a valuable member of the Projects Council as well as the Advisory Council on Community Health at Misson Samriddhi.

Akansha Agarwal is the lead of the product development at Tarkeybein. With Design for Change, Global, she managed implementation and research for the Design Thinking Guide Pilot in 64 schools across India, conducted Impact Research with the Good project Team Harvard Graduate School of Education and Education Initiatives, and designed Empathy Metric tools for Ashoka Changemaker Schools Initiatives. With Asian Paints CSR, she designed and ran teacher training programmes in language learning in Gujarat, and with Kaivalya Education Foundation, developed Headmaster Leadership Capabilities in Mumbai municipal schools, and ran the School Excellence Programme. Akanksha is a Gandhi Fellow, M.A Development Studies, TISS, and B.A (Honours) English Literature, Miranda House, Delhi University. With her expertise in education and social work, Akanksha is member of the Advisory Councils in Education and Leadership Capacity Building, at Mission Samriddhi.

Dr. Amod Kumar is the Managing Director of Sukoon Solutions Pvt.Ltd.  A doctor by profession, Dr Amod is an expert in Community Medicine with a long stint as Head, Dept. of Community Health at St. Stephen’s Hospital, Delhi. Dr. Amod Kumar was the Founding Director of Mother NGO that runs a Home for the destitute. In 2009, he was entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating the government-citizen efforts to respond to the needs of homeless in Delhi. While analyzing the problems of various homeless, he came across a peculiar challenge with homeless rickshaw pullers. It was noticed that the homeless rickshaw puller cannot use the shelters as there is a constant fear of losing his rickshaw. As a result of which they sleep on the limited space of rickshaw in every possible awkward position. It led Dr. Amodkumar to think and work towards finding a solution. This was the start of a journey towards designing a cycle rickshaw that would be safe, comfortable, cost effective and eco-friendly. Several prototypes, several challenges and several years later, the market is now ready for Sukoon 5 –  a dream come true for the hapless rickshaw puller.

Dr Amod on account of his rich experience in community health and grass roots based social work is a valuable member of the Advisory Councils on Community Health and Leadership Capacity Building.

As Program Director for Mission Samriddhi, Ram is not only focused on implementation of ongoing projects but also work closely with the Executive Council as well as the Advisory Councils in shaping the program’s overall framework.

With more than 23 years of Sales, Service delivery and Operations experience in the IT industry spanning across Asia, Middle East and North America, Ram returned to India in July 2014.

Empowering underprivileged youth is something that Ram is passionate about. A prolific motivational speaker, he has traveled the length and breadth of the country and addressed more than 50,000 youth in 18 states. Ram has an MCA from NIT Trichy and an MBA from York University, Canada

Dr. Vibha Gupta is the Chairperson of the Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti (MSS) in Wardha.

A Gandhian by belief, she worked with her father Dr. Devendra Kumar, in founding the Centre of Science for Villages in 1978. Over the past 40 years, Dr. Vibha has worked relentlessly in empowering rural women across 100 villages, 600 self help groups and 34 new enterprises.

Qualified as an economist, Dr. Gupta earned her Phd from IIT, Delhi, with a focus on ‘Transfer of Technology Amongst Rural Women’. She also took her postgraduate degrees in Social Science in Canada and the Netherlands and is a recipient of a number of national and international awards, apart from being a member of various national committees.

Dr Vibha currently leads the Magan Khadi Farm to Fabric Organic Khadi initiative under the Mission Samriddhi umbrella and is also a valuable member of the Advisory Councils on Leadership capacity building at Mission Samriddhi.

Mukesh is a Natural Dye Expert at Gandhian NGO Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti, Wardha. An expert in natural dyeing, screen, vegetable and fresh leaf printing, Mukesh is passionate about Khadi and hand weaving techniques.

An avid campaigner for social causes and a grass roots social worker rooted to Gandhian values, Mukesh has been the recipient of several awards by the Government towards social welfare.

Mukesh supports Dr Vibha with ongoing operations on a day to day level in the Organic Khadi project and is a valuable member of the Projects Council at Mission Samriddhi.

Dr. Gopal N. Paliwal (M.Sc and Ph.d from Nagpur University) a  world renowned bio –scientist on bees is the Director for Centre for Bee Development (CBeeD), Wardha.

Working relentlessly over the past 22 years in tribal dominated rural areas of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chattisgarh, and Jharkhand, Dr. Paliwal has helped conserve the ferocious rockbee species. Conservation has led to the sustainability of traditional livelihood of the local tribals while maintaining the bio-diversity of the region.

He is credited with developing a unique technology ‘Sewagram Nisarg Technique of Rockbee Management’ for safer and multifold harvesting of honey and wax from the wild nests of rockbee species. Through his NGO, Dr Gopal is working hard to train other NGOs so that more tribal youth get empowered in harvesting honey, for a more sustainable livelihood.

Dr. Paliwal leads the Farm to Table Organic Honey initiative and is a valuable member of the Projects Council in Mission Samriddhi.

Dr. Ashok Korwar is a management consultant based in Pune. His work is focused on helping companies and people grow to the next level. Before becoming a full-time consultant, he was professor at IIM, Ahmedabad, for 10 years. At IIMA, he was chairman of the PGP (MBA) program, and coordinated the Senior Management and MEP programs. His book ‘Creating Markets Across the Globe’ won the DMA/Escorts prize for best management book in 1997. He has worked in the US with EDS Corp until 1990. He earned a Ph.D. in management from UCLA in 1982 and B.Tech from IIT Bombay in 1977.

Dr. Korwar on account of his consulting experience as well as his zeal for Design thinking based solutions leads the School for Design Thinking. He is therefore a valuable member of the Advisory Council for Leadership Capacity Building at Mission Samriddhi.

A strong believer in Design as a philosophy and Design Thinking approach as a way of life, Dr. Anbu Rathinavel is currently building the same as the culture in Intellect Design Arena Ltd. and society at large. He is leveraging the world’s first design center for financial technology – the 8012 FT Design Center – to inculcate collaborative designing and providing lasting experience to customers using Design as Deep Differentiator. He is also an executive coach, who extensively uses the Strength Philosophy coaching model that helps corporate leaders and managers to focus on lasting impact. He completed his Doctorate in Artificial Intelligence at Ohio University in 1995 and went on to work for the US Navy organization until 2000.

Dr. Anbu, is a valuable member of the Advisory Council for Leadership Capacity Building at Mission Samriddhi.

Dr. Upma Diwan is the Executive Chairperson, Satpura Integrated Rural Development Institution (SIRDI). With more than 25 years of experience in working in the most remote tribal villages of MP and Maharashtra, Dr. Diwan has helped strengthen rural society with a deep focus on children, women, rural livelihood, Panchayati Raj and organic agriculture.

A doctorate from Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Dr. Diwan on account of her vast experience in integrated rural development is a valuable member of the Advisory Council for Leadership Capacity Building at Mission Samriddhi.

Elango Rangaswamy is the Managing Trustee for the Trust for Village Self Governance. Elango’s pioneering work in developing and transforming his village Kuthambakkam has earned him national and international acclaim.

Elango is unleashing local village leaders towards building economies of permanence within rural India. Having demonstrated that effective and participative planning in local governance can dramatically improve village development, Elango uses his Panchayat Academy to build networks of emboldened local leaders who embody a common vision of good democracy and governance.

Elango is a valuable member of the Project Council as well as the Advisory Council on Leadership Capacity Building at Mission Samriddhi.

Dr . Chandrashekhar Pran is the Founder of Teesari Sarkar Abhiyan a Civic & Social Organization as well as  Volunteers Associations for Rural Development & Networking – VARDAN. With more than 35 years of government administrative experience in social development projects, Dr Pran has helped to empower thousands of rural youth in UP.

A Doctorate in Social Sciences, Dr. Pran has been honored with several awards by the Government. His immense zeal and expertise in Panchayat Raj development makes him a valuable member of the Project Council as well as the Advisory Council on Leadership Capacity building at Mission Samriddhi.

Born and brought up in a Sarvodaya family and environment, Basant did his Masters in Gandhian studies from Bhagalpur University. Over the past 30 years, Basant has relentlessly worked for the empowerment of artisans across the country.

A grass roots social reformer, he has coordinated several Panchayati Raj leadership and development initiatives in Bihar with the help of various NGOs.

Sukanya Srinivas manages the Ullas Trust that conducts the Ullas Workshops for empowering talented children from less privileged communities. Her dedicated efforts have helped shape more than 2 lac teenagers from Municipal, Corporation and Government schools across the nation.

Sukanya moved back to India to work in the Social sector after a successful stint in the IT industry (over 18 years), leading and delivering large scale transformation programs for large banks.

On account of her rich experience, Sukanya is a valuable member of the Projects Council as well as the Advisory Council on Leadership Capacity building at Mission Samriddhi.

Vinita Singh is an independent consultant based in Gurgaon, India with her main areas of expertise being livelihoods and ethical trade.

She has worked on a variety of issues in the area of trade and development as former Director of International Resources for Fairer Trade and as Coordinator of ETI’s Homeworker project in India. She has a Masters degree in business management and in social policy.

Arup Kavan is an independent brand communication consultant based in Bangalore. For over three decades he has worked on and led programmes to influence attitude and behaviour across a wide variety of products & services, spanning commercial brand marketing, and social engineering initiatives.

Arup has been closely involved in Mission Samriddhi in its idea-through-inception journey and chairs its Marketing Federation.

Shri Vishwanath Giriraj retired as Additional Chief Secretary (Finance ) Maharashtra Government .He joined IAS in 1985 and held various positions in Government of Maharashtra including Chief Executive officer, Zilla Parishad-Chandrapur , Collector-Yavatmal , Additional Tribal Commissioner, Director Groundwater Development Agency, Principal Secretary Rural Employment, Water Conservation, Rural Development & Panchayat Raj . After his retirement, he was appointed as Chairman of the Fifth State Finance Commission, Maharashtra, a constitutional post.

Shri V.Giriraj has also worked in the Khadi & Village Industries Commission , Government of India. He is a graduate in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai and LLB from Mumbai University.

Presently he is Chief Executive Officer of Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Foundation, a not for profit company promoted by Government of Maharashtra and Tata Trusts and lives in Mumbai.

*Project Partners