Our Founder Members (At the time of founding ADR in 1999)

  1. Trilochan Sastry - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  2. Jagdeep S. Chhokar - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  3. Sunil Handa - Eklavya Education Foundation, Ahmedabad and Visiting Professor, IIM, Ahmedabad
  4. Ajit Ranade - Professor, ICRIER, New Delhi
  5. Devanath Tirupati - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  6. Brij Kothari - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  7. Pankaj Chandra - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  8. Rajesh Agarwal - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  9. P.R. Shukla - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  10. Prem Pangotra- Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
  11. Sudarshan Khanna - Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Board Of Trustees

Prof. Trilochan Sastry (Chairman, Founder Member and Trustee) has a Bachelors in Technology from IIT, Delhi, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA. He taught for several years at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, after which he moved to IIM, Bangalore. Earlier, he was Dean at IIM - B, and now he is a faculty there. He has taught in other Universities in India, Japan, Hong Kong and United States and has published several academic papers in Indian and International journals. He has received national award for research and teaching.

Prof. Jagdeep S. Chhokar (Founder Member and Trustee) has a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, USA and is a former Director In-charge of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He had earlier worked with the Indian Railways as a mechanical engineer and manager for over a decade, and as international marketing manager with a public sector organization for four years. He has also taught at Universities in Australia, France, Japan and the US.

Dr. Ajit Ranade (Founder Member and Trustee) is Vice Chancellor, Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics, Pune. He has Bachelors in Technology from IIT, Mumbai, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Ph.D in Economics from Brown University, USA. He has taught at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai for the five years, before which he has also taught at other Universities in the USA. He has also published several academic papers and has participated in several national and international seminars. He was Professor at ICRIER, New Delhi.

Dr. Kiran B. Chhokar (Trustee) is a Cultural Geographer with a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (USA) and a BA and MA from Aligarh Muslim University. She heads the Higher Education Programme at the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and has been visiting faculty at Portland State University, USA. Dr Chhokar is co-editor of Asian Women and Their Work: A Geography of Gender and Development (1998) and of Understanding Environment (2004), and is the series editor of the EnviroScope series of thematic manuals for college teachers, developed in collaboration with the World Resources Institute, USA. She is currently working in collaboration with the University of Central Lancashire, UK, on developing a blended learning programme on Ecotourism, Conservation and Development.  She is also the founder member of Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan, a network of organizations in Gujarat working to promote value-based governance in society particularly through elected and other women leaders. 

Ms. Kamini Jaiswal (Trustee) is a senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India. She is also the Secretary of the Center for Public Interest Litigation.

Mr. Jaskirat Singh (Trustee) has a Bachelor in Technology degree from IIT BHU, Varanasi. He is the Founder and CEO of Webrosoft Solutions (P) Ltd, providing IT services. He (along with ADR) is the recipient of the NASSCOM Social Innovation Award 2011 for the most innovative use of IT to process and disseminate election candidates information to voters all over India. To know more about him, read a featured article on him here.

Dr. Vipul Mudgal (Trustee) is the Director of Common Cause which makes legal and policy interventions. He also heads the Inclusive Media for Change Project, which works to highlight the issues of India marginalized, and is based at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). He has earlier held senior editorial positions at the Hindustan Times, India Today, BBC World Service and Asia Times in India, the UK, and South East Asia. He got his Ph.D. in Media Studies from University of Leicester as Nehru Centenary Fellow. He works on the intersections of media, democracy and political violence. 



Founder Members

Prof. Devanath Tirupati (Founder Member) has obtained a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Taught for several years at the University of Texas. Published extensively in areas such as technology, manufacturing management. Has been a consultant in the semi-conductor industry in the USA. Recipient of the U.S. President's Young Investigator award and research excellence award of the University of Texas. He was a Professor at IIM, Ahmedabad.

Prof. Brij Kothari (Founder Member) has a Ph.D. (1996) in Adult Education from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA, Masters in Communications from Cornell University, and M.Sc. Physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.  Presently he is an Associate Professor at IIM, Ahmedabad, in the Ravi J. Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation.  Academic interests include literacy, primary education, and use of information technology in international development.  His work on Same Language Subtitling on TV for mass literacy has received several recognitions, including: i) Tech Laureate, Tech Museum of Innovations, San Jose, CA (2003); ii) Winner, Development Marketplace (World Bank's global competition; 2002); iii) Best Social Innovation in Education, Institute for Social Inventions, London (2000); and iv) Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship at Stanford University (2003-2004).  Geographically, he has field experience in India, Bhutan, Ecuador, and the United States.

Prof. Rajesh Agarwal (Founder Memberis a graduate in commerce from St. Xaviers College, Calcutta. He is also a qualified Chartered and Cost Accountant. He has worked as a faculty member at theInstitute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) for seven years prior to joining the faculty of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) in 1997. He is on the Board of Friends of Women World Banking, India and Education Support Organisation, Ahmedabad. He worked with ICRISAT in Hyderabad.

Prof. Pankaj Chandra (Founder Member) has a Bachelors degree in Technology from Benaras Hindu University Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania,USA. Has taught at the Wharton School and at McGill University, Canada for several years. Publications have appeared in leading research journals. Worked with industry department of the World Bank. Consultant to several manufacturing organisations. He was professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, for several years and is now Director of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Prof. Sudarshan Khanna (Founder Member) has a Post graduate in industrial design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. Professor at NID, teaching courses in design and community related design pertaining to crafts people and artisans in India. Recipient of National Award for science popularisation for children. Worked with several nongovernmental and development organisations. 

Dr. Prem Pangotra (Founder Member) is professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). He specialises in Urban Management, Environment Management and Impact Assessment; Infrastructure Planning and Financing; Local Economic Development Planning; Public Finance; and Transportation Policy. He was previously a faculty member at the University ofKansas, California Polytechnic State University, and Director, School of Planning (CEPT), Ahmedabad. He has published two books and several research papers in international journals on infrastructure planning and urban management. At IIMA, Dr. Pangotra is a member of the Public Systems Group. He teaches graduate courses in Environment Management, Infrastructure Development and Financing, and Public Finance. He has been involved in a number of research and consultancy projects related to urban management, transportation policy and environmental management. Dr Pangotra has received several national and international awards and scholarships including the Honoured Faculty Award from the School of Architecture and Environmental Design of California Polytechnic State University during 1990-91.

Prof. P.R. Shukla (Founder Member) has a Ph.D. from Stanford University, USA. Specialises in environment, energy and policy modelling and analysis. Current areas of interest include global climate change policies, energy and environment policies for developing countries, and environmental implications for international trade. Worked extensively with government, private and international organizations. Published extensively on energy and environmental policies.

Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.)

Head

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Maj. Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.) - B.Com (Hons), M.Sc. (Defence Studies), M.A. Political Science. In 1975, he joined the Indian Army and retired after 37 years of distinguished service. Currently, he is the Head of ADR since December 2013, and oversees all administrative and operational activities of the pan-India organisation. He frequently writes for English and Hindi newspapers/magazines on issues related to electoral and political reforms. He has represented ADR in several national and international events pertaining to democracy, electoral and political reforms. From time to time, he is also invited to interact with foreign delegations on issues of governance & advocacy, transparency & accountability in electoral politics, citizen engagement through RTI etc. On 25th January, 2020 (National Voters' Day), on behalf of ADR, Maj. Gen. Verma received the National CSO Award at the hands of the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, in presence of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, CEC and other Election Commissioners for the voter awareness campaign conducted by ADR.

Pradeep Agarwal

Manager - Finance & Accounts

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Pradeep is a Commerce Graduate from Calcutta University. He also holds Income Tax Practitioners’ Certificate from Income Tax Department, Lucknow. He has been associated previously with number of Non-Profit Organizations i.e., Society for Participatory Research in Asia(PRIA) , Hedwig Robert Samuel Foundation, Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat . He has an experience of more than 15 years in the field of Finance Administration.

Shivani Kapoor

Program Lead & Manager (Legal)

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Shivani has an LLB from Bharti Vidya Peeth, Pune, and an LLM in Human Rights, Constitution and International Law from Amity Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. She is a registered lawyer with the Bar Council of Delhi. She also holds separate one-year diplomas in Human Rights law, Contract Law and IPR from the Asian School of Cyber Laws, Pune. She has experience of more than 10 years with ADR wherein she has been actively involved in framing/pursuing various PILs filed by ADR in High Courts/Supreme Court. She specializes in the Right to Information, Constitutional Rights, Electoral and Political Issues, Participatory Democracy, Transparency and Accountability in Politics. She frequently engages with college students by giving lectures/talks to them on electoral and political issues. She also participates in various panel debates and T.V discussions.

Nandini Raj

Program Officer (Communications)

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Nandini pursued her Engineering in IT from Inderprastha Engineering College, Ghaziabad. After her graduation, she gained experience in content marketing. Later, she pursued her PG Diploma in Public Relations and Corporate Communication from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. She comes with knowledge in communication and digital marketing. She is a bibliophile, gastronome, traveler, and writer.

Shelly Mahajan

Program and Research Officer (Political Party Watch)

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Shelly has a Masters in Politics (with specialization in International Relations) from Jawaharlal Nehru University. She pursued her Bachelors in Physical Sciences from Gargi College, University of Delhi. She was previously working with the Indian Institute of Public Administration as a researcher. She was selected for PRS Legislative Research's LAMP Fellowship 2012-13. She has also written articles on politics in South Asia for Hudson Institute's South Asia Program. Her interests include public policy, political reforms, governance, citizen engagement etc.

Navin Singh

Program Associate (Election Watch)

[email protected]

Navin is a Graduate (BA) from Delhi University. He also has a Diploma in Computer Applications and Programming from Irish institute Haldwani Uttarakhand. He holds keen interest working towards improving electoral politics of the country.

Hemant Singh

Program Associate (Political Party Watch)

[email protected]

Hemant has done his Post Graduation in Political Science (MPS) from IGNOU and BA Program from Delhi University (SOL). He also holds a one year Professional Diploma in Computer Applications & Programming (PD-CAP) and a Diploma in Basics of Computer Programming.

Vivek Chandra Bhatt

Assistant Program Associate (Election Watch)

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Vivek has a one-year Diploma in Computer Applications & Programming, and a one-year Diploma in Hardware and Networking from Jetking, Delhi.

Aman Soni

Senior Program Executive (Election Watch)

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Aman completed Senior Secondary from NIOS, Delhi, and had done a 6-month certificate course in Computer Application. He has previously worked with Tata Communications Internet Services.

Salman Ahmad

Senior Program Executive (Election Watch)

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Salman has completed Graduation from Delhi University and has a one-year certificate course in Computer Application. He has previously worked with Info-vision as Customer care executive.

Sachin Kumar

Senior Program Executive (Election Watch)

[email protected]

Sachin has done Master Of Social Work (MSW) from IGNOU and Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from IGNOU and has a 6-month certificate course in Computer Application. He has previously worked with Population Services International (PSI) as a Program Associate.

Ashok Bisht

Program Executive (Election Watch)

[email protected]

Ashok Bisht has done B.A. (Prog) from Delhi University. He has done a one-year Diploma in Computer Applications Programming from F-Tec. He has previously worked with Global Ent. Data Analysis Pvt. Ltd. as a Data Analytics Operator.

Bhavna Arya

Program Executive (Political Party Watch)

[email protected]

Bhavna has completed her B.A from Delhi University and has a 6 months Certificate Course in Computer Applications. She has previously worked with Mindmill Software Ltd. as a Data Entry Operator.

Nancy Srivastav

Program Executive (Election Watch)

[email protected]

Nancy has completed her B.A. from Delhi University and has a one-year Diploma in Computer Applications.

Nitesh Mishra

Program Executive (Election Watch)

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Nitesh has Completed Six-month Certificate Course in Computer Application and Completed Senior Sec.From BSIC.Before ADR he was working with the CPWD (United Security Services) as a Computer Assistant for 3 years in R.K.puram Sec-3 N.Delhi office.

Prem Prakash

Program Executive (Election Watch)

[email protected]

Prem has a bachelor's degree in History from Nainital University. He has also done one and a half year course in computer hardwork & networking. He is currently pursuing post-graduation in History from Nainital University.

Sarita Bisht

Program Executive (Election Watch)

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Sarita has a one-year Diploma in Computer Applications and has completed her B.A from Delhi University.

Suraj Singh

Program Executive (Election Watch)

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Suraj Singh has graduated with B.A programme from Delhi university. He has done a 6-month basic computer course.

Sameena Shaikh

Program Executive (Election Watch)

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Sameena Shaikh has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Mumbai, and a Master of Arts in Political Science from SNDT, Mumbai. She undertook research on the topic - "The burden of Burkha- from the perspective of Muslim women" - during her post-graduation. She interned with Association for Democratic Reforms for 3 months. Later, she joined ADR as a Program Executive in June 2017.

Neha Khatoon

Software Analyst

[email protected]

Neha has completed her Bachelor of Computer Application from Institute Of Management Studies, Noida. She did an internship for a course of 2 months in an NGO called Humans for Humanity as a content creator and a volunteer. She completed a web development course from Udemy and later did an internship for a month in The Sparks Foundation in the same field. She likes reading fictional books and traveling in her spare time.

Rakesh Kumar

Accounting Technician (Accounts and Admin)

[email protected]

Rakesh has a Bachelor of Commerce from RDVV University, Madhya Pradesh. With a diploma in Tally MS Office, he has 3 years of experience in Accounting and Administrative functions.

Ramesh Singh

Administrative Assistant

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Ramesh is Office, Administration and Banking Assistant at ADR.

Pratap Singh

Office Assistant

Pratap is Office Assistant at ADR.

1. Ford Foundation  

55 Lodi Estate,

Delhi 110030, India 


2. Omidyar Network India Advisors Private Ltd.

61B, 2 North Avenue

Maker Maxity, Bandra-Kurla Complex

Bandra (E), Mumbai  400 051, India


3. Sir Dorabji Tata Trust

5th Floor, Eruchshaw Building

249, D.N. Road, Fort

Mumbai,


4. Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI) 

134 Doddakannelli,

Next to Wipro Corporate Office,

Sarjapur Road, Bengaluru – 560035,


5. Vikram Sarabhai Foundation


6. Thakur Family Foundation, Inc

100 1st Ave North, Ste 3603,

St Petersburg, FL 33701,

USA,


7. Caring Friends


8. Lal Family Foundation  

Core 4A, 5th Floor, India Habitat Centre,

Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003 


9. Individual Donors


  1. Ms Devaki Jain, Padma Bhushan Recipient
  2. Dr SY Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commission of India; Executive Board Member at Trivedi Centre for Political Data, Ashoka University
  3. Dr Nasim Zaidi, Former Chief Election Commission of India
  4. Dr OP Rawat, Former Chief Election Commission of India
  5. Mr Prashant Bhushan, Senior lawyer, Supreme Court of India
  6. Dr Milan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  7. Mr J. S. Saharia, IAS (Retd.), Chairman, International Society for Human Awakening & Development; former Chief Secretary & former State Election Commissioner, Maharashtra
  8. Dr R. Balasubramaniam, Member-HR, Capacity Building Commission, Govt of India; Founder & Trustee of Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement
  9. Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, Former Chief Justice of India
  10. Justice Jeevan Reddy, Former Supreme Court Judge and Chairman of the Law Commission
  11. (Late) Justice B.J. Divan, Former Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court
  12. (Late) Justice P.D. Desai, Former Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court
  13. Justice T.U. Mehta, Former Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court
  14. Mr. V. T. Shah, Former DG Police, Gujarat
  15. Mr. Julio Rebeiro, Former DG Police, Maharashtra
  16. Admiral Ram Tahiliani, Former Head of the Indian Navy, and President of Transparency International
  17. Mr. J.M. Lyngdoh, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India
  18. Mr. T.S. Krishnamurthy, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India
  19. Mr. C G Somiah, Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India
  20. Justice Shiva Shankar Bhatt, Former Justice of the Karnataka High Court
  21. (Late) Mr. L.C. Jain, Former Member Planning Commission; Former High Commissioner to South Africa
  22. Mr. T R Satish Chandran, Former Chief Secretary; Karnataka, Former Governor Goa
  23. Dr. Samuel Paul, Former Director of IIM Ahmedabad
  24. Dr. Narayan Sheth, Former Director of IIM Ahmedabad
  25. Mr. Ramachandra Guha, Eminent Historian and columnist
  26. Mr. P.S. Appu, IAS, Former Secretary to the Government of India
  27. Mr. P.V. Shenoi, IAS, Former Secretary to the Government of India
  28. Mr. K C Sivaramakrishnan, , Former Secretary to the Government of India
  29. Mr. I.C. Dwivedi, Former DG Police, Uttar Pradesh
  30. Justice Sachidanand Awasthi, Former Judge of the MP High Court
  31. Mr. B.G. Deshmukh, Former Cabinet Secretary, Government of India
  32. Justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari, Former Justice of the Mumbai High Court
  33. Mr. D.M. Sukhtankar, Former Chief Secretary; Maharashtra
  34. Lt. Gen. Y.D. Sahasrabuddhe, Former Director General Army Service Corps
  35. Justice S.C. Verma, Former Lokayukta U.P.
  36. Justice Kamleshwar Nath, Former Judge of Allahabad High Court 
  37. Justice D.K. Trivedi, Former Judge of Allahabad High Court.
  38. Shri R.C. Tripathi, Former Secy. Genl. Rajya Sabha
  39. Shri S.A.T. Rizvi, Former Secy. Parliamentary Affairs, Govt. of India.
  40. Prof. Banwari Lal Sharma, Formerly of Allahabad University
  41. Prof. S.K. Agarwal, Former Vice Chancellor Agra University.
  42. Dr. Bhumitra Dev, Former Vice Chancellor Gorakhpur and Ruhelkhand Universities
  43. Dr. Veer Bhadra Mishra, Retd. Prof, BHU
  44. Prof. Waseem Barelwi, Renowned Urdu Poet and Social Activist
  45. Shri Prakash Singh, Former DG BSF & DGP U.P
  46. Shri Ram Arun, Former DGP, U.P.
  47. Dr H.K. Paintal, Former Professor, Lucknow University
  48. General (Retd) Shankar Roychowdhury, Former General, Indian Army 
  49. Ms Aruna Roy, founder member MKSS
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