There are eight honorary members on the Governing Board of KABIL, all of whom function in their personal capacities. The Director of KABIL, the ninth member, acts as the ex-officio secretary to the Governing Board. Following is a short introduction of the members of the Governing Board.

Tapas Kumar Datta Mr. (Chairperson)

Tapas Kumar Datta is engaged in freelance consulting after his voluntary retirement from UNICEF. He had worked with PRADAN in its initial years, then moved to UNICEF and worked there for more than two decades. He headed UNICEF’s state office in Madhya Pradesh. Tapas studied English Literature at Jadavpur University and has specialized in the electronic media from the Radio Netherlands Training Centre, Hilversum, The Netherlands.

Biswajit Sen Mr. (Vice-Chairperson)

Biswajit Sen did his post-graduation in Rural Development at Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS), Ranchi. He worked in Damodar Vally Corporation (DVC) for 29 years and retired as Senior Joint Secretary (Development). He was In-charge of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing of DVC. Prior to joining DVC, he worked with Lutheran World Services (LWS), an international NGO working with the disadvantaged in rural areas to promote livelihoods.

Asif Zaidi Mr. (Member)

Asif Zaidi is currently the Managing Trustee and CEO of Sir Syed Trust (SST), a not for profit organization involved in livelihood promotion based on natural resource management, organizing women around savings and credit for empowerment and education over decades. He also worked with PRADAN and was a Programme Director for its operation in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. He is an expert in the management of natural resources, horticulture, rainwater harvesting and farm-based livelihood promotion. Asif holds a Master’s degree in Geology from Aligarh Muslim University.

Smita Rawat Ms. (Member)

Smita Rawat is a former Executive Director of the Indian Railway Board. She worked with Indian Railways for more than three decades before her retirement from service. In the course of various assignments, she had had vast exposure to policymaking and implementation of policies in Indian Railways. She holds an M Phil in English Literature from Delhi University and a Master’s in Professional Studies in International Development from Cornell University.

Thomas Mathews Mr. (Treasurer)

Thomas Mathews worked with PRADAN for more than three decades and headed its Finance and Accounts Unit. He has extensive experience in accounting for NGOs, Income Tax and related compliances. He has also expertise in FCRA compliances as well as registration of development organizations in charity format. Thomas holds a Master’s degree in Commerce from the University of Kerala.

Malavika Dadlani Dr. (Mrs.) (Member)

Malavika Dadlani has worked with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and retired from there as Joint Director (Research) and Head – the Division of Seed Science and Technology. She is an expert on seeds (seed systems, plant variety, biodiversity) and served as a consultant to the FAO, Bioversity International, GFA, and CCAFS. She did her Master’s in Plant Physiology from IARI, DipIIT from IIT Kharagpur, and PhD from Calcutta University.

Jayanti Singh Dr. (Mrs.) (Member)

Jayanti Singh is a public health professional managing large-scale campaigns on vaccination, nutrition and communicable diseases like malaria, TB and HIV. She was associated with WHO, UNICEF, PATH and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) projects. Currently, she is pursuing an EIS fellowship jointly conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlanta and NCDC India and researching occupational and environment related health issues.

Sarat Chandra Das Mr. (Member)

Sarat Chandra Das is a social entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in diverse fields – development sector, banking, micro-finance, and business management. He has done his graduation in Agricultural Science (B.F.Sc) from Assam Agricultural University and Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development (PGDRD). Sri Sarat Chandra Das is the founder of the NGO Grameen Sahara in Assam. Grameen Sahara works to promote livelihoods of the disadvantaged in rural areas, particularly of the women, tribal and marginalised.

Achintya Kumar Ghosh Mr. (Ex-Officio)

Achintya Kumar Ghosh has more than three and half decades of experience in promoting livelihoods on a large scale in India. He was earlier the chief executive of PRADAN. He is a B. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and has also been trained at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and the City University of New York (CUNY).