Sushant Verma brings over two decades of deep-rooted experience in social development, with a focus on rural transformation, livelihood promotion, and community resilience. As the Asia Regional Director at Trickle Up, he leads strategic initiatives that empower ultra-poorcommunities—especially women—through enterprise development and inclusion. His career spans leadership roles in globally respected organizations such as USAID, World Bank, British Council, Heifer International, and ActionAid, where he has designed and managed large-scale programs in education, public health, disaster recovery, and women’s empowerment. Sushant’s work is distinguished by his commitment to grassroots innovation, participatory development, and adaptive program design. A recognized international trainer and facilitator, he has conducted transformative workshops on leadership, organizational development, and attitudinal change across continents. His academic foundation includes an MBA in Rural Development, a Master’s in Sustainable Development, and specialized training from institutions like Oxford University. Sushant’s insights into unseen foundations—such as social capital, community resilience, and informal support systems—make him an ideal voice for CHARCHA 2025’s exploration of hidden pillars that sustain micro and nano enterprises. His work exemplifies how inclusive, locally anchored approaches can build resilient livelihoods and contribute meaningfully to nation building.

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Mr. Trilok Chand Gupta, IAS (Retd.), a 1987 batch officer of the Haryana cadre, currently serves as the Chief Commissioner of the Haryana Right to Service Commission, a position he has held since June 15, 2021. Born on May 28, 1961, in District Nuh (formerly part of Gurugram), Haryana, Mr. Gupta is an alumnus of Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, and holds multiple professional qualifications — Chartered Accountancy (CA), Company Secretaryship (CS), Cost Accountancy (ICWA), Management Accountancy (Part I), and an LL.B. from the University of Delhi. Before joining the Indian Administrative Service, he practiced as a Chartered Accountant in Delhi for three and a half years.

Over a distinguished career spanning more than four decades, Mr. Gupta has held several key administrative positions, including Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and Deputy Commissioner in Bhiwani and Gurugram districts. He also served as Administrative Secretary for critical departments such as Monitoring & Coordination, Food & Supplies, Town & Country Planning, School Education, Welfare of Scheduled Castes & Backward Classes, Administrative Reforms, Skill Development & Industrial Training, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Employment, Transport, Housing, and Mines & Geology. Between 2001 and 2008, he was on central deputation with the Government of India.

As Chief Commissioner, Mr. Gupta has been instrumental in advancing digital governance reforms in Haryana. Recognizing the gaps in public awareness and accountability within the service delivery framework, he conceptualized and led the development of the Auto Appeal System (AAS) — a pioneering digital initiative that ensures timely service delivery and automatic escalation of delays. Launched by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana on September 1, 2021, the AAS has significantly enhanced transparency and efficiency in public service delivery, with nearly 22.59 lakh appeals processed through the system as of October 2025.

Mr. Gupta’s contributions to e-governance and administrative reform have been widely recognized. He received the National e-Governance Award (2008–09) from the Government of India for enhancing transparency and efficiency in HUDA’s operations. He has also delivered keynote addresses at prestigious forums, including the National Conference on e-Governance (Mumbai), the International Institute of Administrative Sciences–DARPG India Conference (Delhi), and the National Workshop on Sevottam and Effective Redressal of Public Grievances (Bhopal).

Mr. Gupta continues to be regarded as a visionary leader in public administration, governance innovation, and citizen-centric service delivery.

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Tanvi Lall, Director of Strategy at people+ai (pronounced people plus ai), EkStep Foundation. She has a strong academic background in healthcare and business management. She holds a Master's of Science in Biotech and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from University of California, Berkeley. Tanvi has experience developing products and projects focused on sustainable social impact across the United States and India. Her work at people+ai spans AI for Social Good and Economic Growth, AI safety, AI infrastructure and AI use cases.

Tushar is the Co-Founder and Partner at The Blended Finance Company, where he is advising large philanthropic foundations and impactful social enterprises in designing and implementing blended finance funds and facilities. Tushar is currently leading engagements to setup multiple climate adaptation linked facilities and facilities focused on livelihoods and employment. Prior to TBFC, Tushar was an Associate Partner at Dalberg Advisors, where he led the design and setup of multiple outcomes-linked facilities, like the Skill Impact Bond and LiftEd, and advised multiple development sector actors on their blended finance strategies. Prior to Dalberg, Tushar worked for close to a decade with Lazard India, as an investment banker. He is an MBA from IIM Bangalore and MIPP from Johns Hopkins SAIS.

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Usha Uthup: The Queen of Indian Pop The evergreen pop icon and Padma Shri recipient Usha Uthup, known for her songs in over seventeen Indian and eight international languages, has captivated audiences for generations. In a conversation with Sanjoy K Roy, she talks about what music means for her, sharing the passion and commitment that drive her. A fascinating sing-along recountal of a unique musical odyssey with a legend of our times.

Utkarsh Saxena, co-founder & CEO of Adalat AI, has seen the legal system from multiple vantage points. He was a law clerk on the Supreme Court of India, practiced law across courts in India, and petitioned the Supreme Court to legalize marriage equality in India. Utkarsh holds a BA/LLB from the University of Delhi, an LLM from Harvard Law School, a master’s in international development economics from Harvard Kennedy School and is completing a PhD in public policy from the University of Oxford. He also worked with Dr. Arvind Subramanium at the Chief Economic Adviser’s office at the Ministry of Finance, at the World Bank, and the Boston Consulting Group.

Vandana Gurnani joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1991 and is currently posted as Secretary, Labour and Employment, Government of India. Prior to this she was working as Secretary Coordination, Cabinet Secretariat where she was leading the Deregulation and Compliance Reduction agenda for Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living. She has worked in multifarious assignments in Govt. of India as well as the state of Karnataka and has a vast experience of working in the health sector.

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As Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, she led the initiative to achieve Universal Health Coverage and crafting of the PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission to develop resilient health systems to manage the current and future pandemics. She anchored and led several aspects of management of Covid in India including augmentation of the health systems and Covid vaccination.

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‍In her 34 years of public service, Vandana has served as an administrator, policy-maker and public health strategist holding a wide range of assignments in the fields of Health, Urban and Rural Development, Environment and Women & Child Development. She has successfully represented India in several global forums like ILO, Gavi, PMNCH, FP 2020. etc. A native of New Delhi, Vandana earned her Master’s degrees in Economics from the prestigious Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University and has also completed her Master’s in Public Health from the renowned Johns Hopkins University.

Vidya Vasudevan is the Head of Zoho Community at Zoho Corporation, where she leads efforts to build and strengthen highly localized user groups and nurture brand champions across regions. Over her 24-year journey with Zoho, Vidya has played a pivotal role in shaping customer engagement and product evangelism, bringing together users, partners, and teams to foster collaboration and learning.

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Starting her career at Zoho as a technical writer, she has since taken on diverse roles across customer support, training, and marketing, gaining a deep understanding of customer experience and product adoption. Based in Chennai, Vidya holds a postgraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Madras and brings extensive expertise in product marketing, CRM, and community management.

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