Speakers

• Dr. Debarpita Roy Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP)
  

  Dr. Debarpita Roy

  Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP)

  Dr. Debarpita Roy is a researcher at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), New Delhi. Her research focus pertains to India’s contemporary urban issues including urban finance and affordable housing. Her research in affordable housing has looked at housing policy, aspects of demand for low-income housing, social rental housing and challenges faced in adoption of innovative technologies in construction in the Indian context. India’s municipal finance is another area of deep interest for her, and she has co-authored two reports on municipal finances for the 15th Finance Commission. She is a PhD in Economics from Centre of Economic Studies and Planning (CESP), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a MA (Economics) from Delhi School of Economics, DU.

• Dr. Ramanath Jha Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation
  

  Dr. Ramanath Jha

  Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation

  Dr. Ramanath Jha belongs to the 1977 batch of the IAS. In the 80s and 90s, he worked as Administrator Pandharpur Municipal Council, Administrator & Municipal Commissioner Solapur, Collector & Deputy Director Municipal Administration, Ahmednagar, Municipal Commissioner Pune and Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA. His subsequent postings were as Regional Advisor, South Asia for the Urban Management Programme of the UNDP/UN-Habitat, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of MSRDC and Principal Secretary, Transport, Ports and State Excise, GoM. He received the State Government’s Chinmulgund award for administrative excellence in 1989. He sought voluntary retirement from Government in 2008 and joined the private sector as CEO & MD, Khed Economic Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. He is currently Chairman, Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC), Chairman, Mumbai Commission for Art, Culture and Music (MCAMC), Adviser, Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA), Director General, MCGM’s Centre for Capacity Building & Research (MCMCR) and Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF). He works on urbanisation, urban sustainability, urban governance and urban planning.

• Dr. Ravikant Joshi Senior Fellow (Senior Finance & Governance) CPPR, Former Chief Accounts Officer, Vadodra Municipal Corporation
  

  Dr. Ravikant Joshi

  Senior Fellow (Senior Finance & Governance) CPPR, Former Chief Accounts Officer, Vadodra Municipal Corporation

  Dr. Ravikant Joshi is an Urban Finance and Management specialist and has worked in India and abroad. He is former chief accounts officer of Vadodara Municipal Corporation with more than 35 years of experience. He was responsible for the conceptualisation, designing and implementation of Municipal Financial, Budgetary and Accounting System Reforms and their computerization in Vadodara Municipal Corporation.
  • At present since August 2019, Dr. Joshi is working as an Advisor to Urban Management Centre – Ahmedabad, also he is working as a freelance consultant.
  • 2017 to 2019 Dr. Joshi worked as a Team Leader – Technical Support Group to National Urban Livelihood Mission – Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs – Government of India
  • Dr. Ravikant Joshi worked as an Advisor – Urban to CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions, Mumbai from 2002 to 2017.
  • He has worked as a short-term consultant (STC) for multilaterals like World Bank, Water & Sanitation Program, ADB, USAID, DFID, UN Habitat, CLGF and for various national/state level organisations on urban issues.
  • He conceived, designed and spearheaded implementation of Accrual Base Double Entry Accounting System in 159 municipal bodies of Gujarat.

• Sarthak Pradhan Public Finance Researcher, Takshashila Institution
  

  Sarthak Pradhan

  Public Finance Researcher, Takshashila Institution

  Sarthak Pradhan is an Assistant Professor at the Takshashila Institution. He teaches economic reasoning, researches public finance and conducts tutorials on government budgets. He has a PGP in Public Policy from the Takshashila Institution. He holds a dual degree from BITS Pilani.

• V R Vachana Head - Municipal Finance and Policy, Jaanagraha
  

  V R Vachana

  Head - Municipal Finance and Policy, Jaanagraha

  V R Vachana heads the Municipal Law and Policy programme at Janaagraha, focusing on policy research and thought leadership in ‘city-systems’, i.e., systems approach to governance of cities. She leads the development and creation of one of India’s flagship reports on urban governance, titled the ‘Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS), and the associated policy engagements with governments. She led the seed phase of Janaagraha’s ‘City Leaders Programme’, a systematic councillor leadership development programme focused on women. She has engaged in projects with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, XV Finance Commission, NITI Aayog, the Chief Economic Advisor’s office, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission of Karnataka, legislators such as Dr Shashi Tharoor, etc.

  She often pens in journals and popular media. She is passionate about urban governance and is particularly interested in comparative governance and institutional design. She holds a Master’s degree in Development (specialising in Public Policy) from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. She is a Future Leaders Connect (FLC) member of the British Council and represented India in the FLC ‘21 programme.

• Vidyadhar K. Phatak Former Dean, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University
  

  Vidyadhar K. Phatak

  Former Dean, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University

  He worked for 28 years till 2004 in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Thereafter till 2016 he worked as freelance consultant on various aspects of urban development. Outcome of one such assignment in 2013 was the report on “Land Based Fiscal Tools and Practices for Generating Additional Financial Resources” for the Ministry of Urban Development. From 2016 to 2019 he was Dean, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University.