Speakers
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Budhadeba BhoiSDA Member, Amaniapatna Bhoi Sahi -
Mamata GoudaSDA Member, Godam Sahi -
Nikita MishraManager- Capacity Building, Tata Steel FoundationNikita Mishra is a development professional with a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Her areas of interest span rural and urban development, food and nutritional security, land rights, public policy, and gender studies. She has worked closely with communities, government institutions, and civil society organizations, driven by a deep commitment to creating equitable and sustainable social change.
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Pankajini SwainSDA Member, Kimbhiria Jagannath Basti -
Shishir Ranjan DashLead Urban Habitat, Tata Steel FoundationShishir Dash leads the Urban Habitat portfolio at Tata Steel Foundation, where he focuses on inclusive urban development and strengthening community-led solutions in housing, infrastructure, and basic services. His work emphasizes sustainable models that improve the quality of life for urban poor and marginalized communities.
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Shubhagato DasguptaSenior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research (CPR)Shubhagato Dasgupta is a Senior Fellow at CPR and heads the Scaling City Institutions for India (Sci-Fi) Sanitation initiative. His research focuses on drinking water and sanitation in India and globally, particularly on flagship government programs, service delivery challenges in smaller cities, urban infrastructure financing, and housing and slum rehabilitation. He previously led the Support to National Policies for Urban Poverty Reduction project and has held senior roles at the World Bank, IDFC, HUDCO, and other institutions, as well as worked on urban water and sanitation projects in Africa. Trained as an architect at CEPT University, he holds an MSc from UCL and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Amsterdam.
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Srinibas MallikPresident- SDA, Mahima Nagar, Bhumbaneswar -
Suchisnata SahooConsultant, Tata Steel FoundationSuchisnata Sahoo is a passionate development professional with over 11 years of experience working across diverse social sectors, including livable habitats for the urban poor, strengthening and mainstreaming slum communities, and empowering women through entrepreneurship, livelihood generation, and ICT initiatives. With extensive experience engaging directly with economically vulnerable groups, Suchisnata has developed sustainable mechanisms aimed at improving and upgrading their quality of life.
In addition to her development work, she brings 13 years of experience in the financial domain, focusing on financing sustainable businesses — bridging the gap between social impact and economic viability.
Local Time
- Timezone: America/New_York
- Date: Oct 14 2025
- Time: 6:30 am
Slums are Solvable (Part 03): Slum Upgrading at Scale
Slums are Solvable Webinar Series
Recognising the scaling potential of the Jaga Mission and its excellency in promoting the coordination of key stakeholders in the development and distribution of resources, knowledge sharing, and joint implementation.
The agencies included are INHAF, Tata Steel Foundation, the Centre for Policy Research, and Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship & Democracy, along with the UN-Habitat and Cities Alliance, have come together to organise a webinar series to provide input and insights to local, national, and international debates on how to facilitate and scale participatory and integrated approaches for slum transformation.
• The primary overall objective of the series is to deep dive into the detailed policy and programmatic work undertaken under the Jaga Mission to solve challenges faced by slum dwellers. By assembling this information, the webinar series will also act as an archive of this work. The organizing committee is also keen to try to raise resources to produce a publication out of this effort.
• This webinar series will also act as an opportunity for stakeholders across the sectors of housing and basic services, especially from Indian cities, to familiarize themselves with practical planning and management instruments that are available and that can be employed to rapidly solve issues related to inadequate housing and transform poor habitats in slums at scale.
Webinar 03: Slums are Solvable: Slum Upgrading at Scale
• The third webinar will focus on how Odisha’s cities implemented slum upgroding across nine basic services, leading to the eventual delisting of upgraded settlements and their integration into the urban fabric.
• It will cover the genesis and development of the Odisho Slum Upgrading SOP, the implementation process facilitated by ward officers, and the active participation of Slum Dwellers Associations and Self-Help Groups, alongside coordination with state parastatal agencies for essential services such as water and electricity.
• The session will also reflect on challenges encountered during this process, including those arising during the COVID-19 crisis, and the solutions that were developed to address them.