Our Governing
Board

Amiya Kr. Sharma PhD, is a development worker, presently holding the post of Executive Director of RGVN, a well-known development support institution working mainly in agriculture and livelihood. Under his leadership RGVN has been working with more than five lakh rural households in Eastern and North East India. He has an M.A. degree from the Delhi School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, U.S.A. Having taught in Delhi University, Rutgers University and Tezpur University, he switched career to join NEDFi which is a developmental finance institution set up by the Central Govt. Attracted by the grassroot work, he joined RGVN in 2006.

A former Chairperson of Sa-Dhan, he is a member of the National Committee on Social & Economic Development, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. He is also a trustee of Brahmaputra Community Development Trust which specializes in promotion and development of handloom textiles, a Board member of North East Network and is associated with number of other organisations in the North East. He has been appointed as one of the Economic Advisors to the Chief Minister of Assam to help rejuvenation of the economy affected by COVID–19.

He is also an Adviser to the Commission for Review and Assessment of Problems of Satra Lands in Assam – CRAPSLA. He is a Member to the Advisory Committee for Chief Minister’s Climate Resilient Village Fellowship Programme. He contributes articles regularly in leading newspapers & magazines, development finance being his specialization. He was nominated on the Board of Governors of Assam Rajiv Gandhi University. Dr. Sharma’s expertise lies in development economics, implementing projects related to agriculture and livelihood, organic farming, model village development, development of flood-affected areas and also urban development with focus on livelihood generation for the poor. He has led programmes on Sanitation and Solar power.

Dr. Pankaj Lal Gogoi is a veterinary graduate from College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara under Assam Agricultural University and a post-graduate in management from Pondicherry Central University. He began his career at United Hatcheries in Hyderabad and launched Lotus Chick, a sole proprietorship, in 2001 to produce and market day-old broiler chicks.

Lotus Broiler Farming was founded in 2010 as a partnership enterprise that does contract farming with farmers by providing them with day old broiler chicks, feed, medicines and vaccines as well as technical support.

In 2018, North East Agrovet Pvt Ltd amalgamated the Lotus Chicks and Lotus Broiler Farming divisions. Under this banner, he started a breeding farming project for the production of broiler hatching eggs in 2020, but due to Covid 19, the project was postponed, and production began in 2023, despite all odds of the pandemic.

Dr. Pankaj Lal Gogoi was conferred with the Assam’s highest civilian award “Assam Gaurav” in 2022 for his outstanding contributions to the poultry industry of Assam.

Dr. Jaya Kritika Ojha is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Society Technology Interface, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan. She holds a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and did FDPM from IIM Ahmedabad. Dr. Jaya has earned her master’s in Development Studies from the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, as a scholar of the India-Italy Development Cooperation; and has also done masters in Human Development and Development Communications from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

Dr. Jaya's research areas include ICT and Development, Commons and Collective Action, Digital Divide, Community Informatics & Sustainability, Women-Livelihoods and Technology, Digital Ecosystems, Capabilities and Empowerment, Social Research Methods. She has been publishing articles, research papers, book chapters, and presenting research papers in different international-national conferences and seminars.

She explores the nuances of development and digital interventions and innovations in rural agri. and non-farm sectors in India, and has worked with grassroots organizations such as PRADAN, SRIJAN, and URMUL. Dr. Jaya has also worked as faculty at the Development Management Institute, Patna, and The M.S. University of Baroda, Gujarat. She was a National Resource Person of Non-Farm theme for National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in the FY 2016-19.

Dr. Jaya focusses on devising approaches, strategies, and innovative methodologies to enable people and communities towards bringing desired change, focusing on the issues of ‘people’, ‘participation’, and ‘institutional processes’ for sustainable development.

Parag Boruah is Managing Director at Sesta Development Service (SDS), has more than 20 years of experience in Development Sector. He is an empanelled National Resource Person under NRLM-NIRD, MoRD for Northeast Region and assisting different State level Mission. He has established two other social enterprises Ayanant Ventures Pvt. Ltd (working in agribusiness sector) and Sayanant Development Services Pvt. Ltd.

He is a multidisciplinary person, core expertise on Value chain development for agriculture, enterprise development, Climate Smart Livelihoods, Training, Research and Studies. As a consultant he has assisted different government programmes like North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP), Ministry of DoNER, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), MoRD, Assam Agriculture Competitiveness Project (AACP), funded by WB, MGNREGS, SGSY and EPCO and different government department.

Saumit, currently serving as Programme Manager, FWWB-India possesses a strong passion for contributing to organizations dedicated to uplifting disadvantaged communities. This commitment led him to pursue a specialization in Rural Development from KSRM and been actively engaged for over 12 years in this sector. Throughout his career, Saumit has been involved in implementing a multitude of projects funded by governmental bodies such as the Govt. of India, as well as organizations like NABARD, SFAC, NFDB, NAFED and international entities like USAID, IKEA, and the World Bank across various regions including Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya.

His expertise spans a wide array of areas including survey design and implementation, program and project execution, cluster development, stakeholder engagement, business development, problem-solving, rural marketing, and comprehensive reporting. Saumit has a commendable track record of accomplishments in initiatives focusing on climate-sensitive agriculture, enterprise and livelihood promotion, institution and capacity building, women's enterprise development, and ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development). He excels in documenting societal aspects to facilitate effective communication with diverse stakeholders.

Dr. Jogen Kalita, a veterinarian with an MBA in human resource management, has 25 years of expertise in the rural development sector. His rural development career began in 2000, when he joined PRADAN as a development apprentice, and he later worked as an executive for PRADAN's Purulia team for eight years. He was eventually transferred to PRADAN's Vidisha unit in Madhya Pradesh, where he served for three years. From 2011 to 2017, he served as the Head of Region for Brooke India, an international organisation based in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. In 2017, he joined KABIL as Team Lead in Assam, where he served till 2021.

He began working as an independent consultant for a year in September 2021 before joining Grameen Sahara in Assam to work on the APART Project. He has worked with SDS as General Manager (Operation) since June 2023 and is presently the state integrator and Team Lead for TRESP in Tripura state, in addition to serving as SDF's Chief Executive. Dr. Jogen has extensive experience promoting livelihoods for the rural poor by promoting community institutions such as SHGs, Federations, and Producers' Organisations, as well as engaging in livestock development, watershed management, and improved agriculture, in addition to conducting various studies, research, performance appraisal, project monitoring and evaluation.