The Team




Arkalgud Ramaprasad, Director


Dr. Arkalgud Ramaprasad is Professor Emeritus of Information and Decision Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He has a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 1980; MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India, 1972; B.E. (Electrical), from the University of Mysore, Karnataka, India, 1970. His current research is focused on (a) ontologies to conceptualize a problem domain systematically and systemically, (b) ontological meta-analysis of research, policies and practices in the domain and (c) ontological roadmaps for research, policies and practices in the domain.
His current areas of research include healthcare, higher education, eGovernance, smart cities and local climate change. He has held visiting faculty positions at Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica del Norte and University of Wollongong.
E: arkalgud.ramaprasad@rppc.ac.in
T : +91 80 2360 1742
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Chetan B Singai, Deputy Director


Dr. Chetan B Singai has obtained his doctoral degree (PhD) from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science campus, Bengaluru. He completed his MPhil in Law and Governance at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Chetan received his Master's degree in Political Science from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He received the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to pursue Master's in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management, joint degree from University of London (UK), University of Aarhus (Denmark) and University of Deusto (Spain). He is DAAD visiting-faculty Julius-Maximilians-University of Wurzburg, Germany for the
period of 2014-2018. He was visiting-faculty at the Tamil Nadu National Law School, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. Chetan has been faculty at the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru; St. Joseph's College (Autonomous), Bengaluru. He was associated with Janaagraha Center for Citizenship and Democracy, Bengaluru as Research Fellow; as Research Associate with Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, New Delhi and National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi.
He is recipient of Social Justice Medal awarded by the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India for his service towards Human Rights and Women Empowerment by the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India in 2007. He is associated with research projects on higher education, issues of social justice, health and nutrition and political/electoral reforms. Currently, he is associated with the Committee to Draft the National Education Policy-2017, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, New Delhi as Chief Consultant (Technical Secretariat at NAAC, Bengaluru).
E: chetan.singai@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742
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Siddaramanna L J, Administrative Officer


He is a Graduate in Science, B.Sc. (Electronics) and holds Master’s Degree in English from Kuvempu University. He has done Diploma in End-user Computing & Executive Skills (DECES) from First Computers. He has worked for R V Institute of Management as Assistant Manager (HR & Admin) till Oct – 2018, and has got a very rich competency in handling and Heading Administrative Office which includes running Pay roll in SAP, member of various committees like IQAC, Admission committee, Examination Committee, Seminars and Conferences committee.
He was on the front to handle all statutory works pertaining to AICTE – EOA, NIRF, AISHE. He was a prominent person and has the privilege in contributing his works for getting “A” Grade to Institute from NAAC, Permanent Affiliation from University, and in applying for UGC 2(f) & 12(B) status to the Institution. Initiated career council from Government Bodies like SSC (first college to conduct such activities to students in Bangalore). He was also associated with Dr. Nitte Shankar Adyanthya Memorial First Grade College Bangalore (January 2010 – August 2012) in the fullest capacity as Office Superintendent. Prior to this he has worked for St. George College of Art, Science and Management, as Liaison Officer (August 2007 – December 2010), worked for Sindhi Group of Institution as Supervisor (April 2002 – July 2007). He has exposure to corporate as he started his career with Designer Pavings and Tiles, at Tumakuru as Executional Officer (April 1997- March 2002).
E: siddaramanna.j@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 23601742
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Shwetmala Kashyap, Senior Research Fellow


Dr. Shwetmala Kashyap has obtained her doctoral degree (Ph.D.) from Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bengaluru, India specializing in municipal solid waste. She has been awarded with Amulya and Vimla Reddy Gold Medal for best Ph.D. thesis. She completed her M.Tech. in Environmental Science and Engineering from BIT Mesra, Ranchi, India and M.Sc. (Biotechnology), from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India.
She was working as Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering, Presidency University, Bengaluru. She was associated with Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru as a Senior Research Associate. Her broad research interests lie in the field of waste management, renewable energy generation, analysis of GHG emissions, climate change planning and policy development. Her current area of research is focused on solid waste management.
E: shwetmala.kashyap@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 23601742
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Susanna Ghosh Mitra, Senior Research Fellow


Dr. Susanna G. Mitra has a Ph.D. in Politics from The University of Manchester, UK. She obtained her M.Phil. in Political Science from The University of Calcutta, India, and M.A. in International Relations from Jadavpur University, India. Her research centres on policy and governance. The processes of policymaking, and in particular unintended outcomes of policy, are what drive her research. She was awarded the Overseas Student Scholarship by The University of Manchester for her empirical research on water policy processes in India.
She has extended the work on to include state-centred processes of global governance in energy and water. She has undertaken collaborative research with scholars in UK and Germany. Her current research focuses on evidence-based policy research and analysis in public health surveillance, air pollution management, and water security.
E: susanna.mitra@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742

Ajay Chandra, Research Fellow


Ajay Chandra has obtained his Master of Science in Psychology from the Department of Psychology, Bangalore University in 2010. He has his Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Economics and Sociology from the National College, Bengaluru. His areas of interests lies in cognitive psychology, Social and cross-cultural psychology, and in the domain of mental health. In-addition, school education and higher education have been his areas of interests and he has engaged in several projects in these respective domains.
Previously, Ajay worked as a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Educational and Social Studies, Bengaluru. Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Research Associate at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, during which he was associated with a national level project on Gifted Education for six years. Over the years, he has engaged in conducting field and classroom studies, conducting teacher training workshops and workshops for children, data mining and analysis. He has also worked as a visiting lecturer at Narayana Hrudayala, where he taught psychology for bachelor's students.
E: ajay.chandra@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 23601742
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Anilkumar M, Research Fellow


Anilkumar has completed his Master of Public Policy from National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. He has a well demonstrated history of working in the public policy sector in the domain of Higher Education and Governance. He is currently working as a Research Fellow at Ramaiah Public Policy Center. Previously, worked as Senior Research Associate at Centre for Educational and Social Studies, Bengaluru and engaged in policy analysis and advocacy related to UGC, MHRD and Government of
Karnataka. Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Content Developer at Brain Smart Labs, Bengaluru and engaged in research and developing online content for International Relations and Public Administration. Anilkumar’s area of interest is in understanding the relation between Inter-governmental Organizations and State’s in addressing public policy challenges.
E: anilkumar.m@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742
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Anupama Sanjeev, Research Fellow


Dr Anupama Sanjeev is a Social Sciences professional having 14 years’ experience in Student Welfare, Admissions related marketing, Research writing, Events, and Teacher training. At RPPC, she is a Research Fellow and has collaborated on grant proposals from various government agencies and is currently working on projects involving the framing of medico-legal guidelines and gender in higher education.Earlier, she has worked extensively in the conceptualization, and execution of training modules for enhancing
employability of MBA students, and improving intra-employee relations. She has also conceptualized psychometric assessment batteries for adolescent school going children and online counselling services.
E: anupama.sanjeev@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742

SreeGanga S D, Research Associate


Sree Ganga S D is a post-graduate from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru. She has completed her Master of Arts degree in Public Policy. Currently she is working as Research Associate at Ramaiah Public Policy Center. She had previously worked as a summer intern at DST- Center for Policy Research, IISc where she worked as a project intern in areas of Science Diplomacy and Government Science Advice in India.
She has also completed an internship at Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) where she contributed to a working paper titled "Analysis of Participation of women in politics: A case study of Karnataka" for the National Consultation on Women in State Politics. Her areas of interest are in International Relations, Montessori Education, and Healthcare Systems.
E: sreeganga.sd@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742

Devina Neogi , Research Associate


Ms. Devina Neogi has completed her post-graduation from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore in Public Policy. She holds a bachelor degree in English honors from Gauhati University. She has a history of working in the public policy sector in the domain of Women Safety and Urban Governance. Currently, she is working as a Research Associate at Ramaiah Public Policy Center. Previously, she worked with B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee) where
she assisted the team in data compilation and drafting reports for the projects B. Safe and Participatory Democracy Program (PDP). Prior to that, she worked with Janaagraha Centre for Democracy and Citizenship, where she has assisted the Advocacy and Reforms team for ASICS- Annual Survey of India City System. Also, she interned with the Assam State Commission for Women in Guwahati, Assam.
E: devina.neogi@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742

Nibras K T , Research Associate


Nibras KT has completed his Master’s in Public Policy and Governance from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. He holds his bachelor’s degree in History from University of Calicut. He has previous experiences of internships with Centre for Public Policy Research Kochi, where he provided research assistance for studies on Urban Mobility, and Kudumbashree-National Resource Organization, where he researched on Coastal Regulation policies.
His research interests lie broadly in the intersections of data analytics, sociology and public policy.
E: nibras.kt@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742

Sarah Shabbir, Research Associate


Ms. Sarah Shabbir Suwasrawala is a post-graduate from Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru. She has completed her Master of Science degree in Psychology, with a specialization in Clinical Psychology. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Arts (Psychology) from KC College Mumbai. Currently, she is working as a Research Associate at Ramaiah Public Policy Center. She had previously worked as a behavioral Trainer with YourDOST Health Pvt. Ltd.
where she provided Behavioral, Social, and Academic counseling to special needs school children on an individual level. She has also completed an internship at KIMS Hospital whereby she has dealt with clients with various mental health issues. Before that, she has also worked as a Sales executive with E.A.Currim Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai in the online sales and marketing department. Her area of interest is Mental health, inclusive education, and cognitive psychology.
E: sarah.shabbir@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742

Vinutha Rani N V, Secretarial Assistant


Vinutha has completed her Graduation from Seshadripuram Main College, Bengaluru. She has 3 years of experience working at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space Science Office as Admin assistant and One year Six months in a Private Company Aditi Incorp, Bengaluru, Personal Assistant and Four years of experience in Karnataka Jnana Aayoga as Admin assistant.

 

Alicia Núñez Mondaca, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Alicia Núñez is an assistant professor in the Department of Management Control and Information Systems at the University of Chile. She completed BA Information Systems and Management Control, BA Accounting Auditor and Master in Finance in the School of Economics and Business at University of Chile, in Chile. She received a PhD in Public Health from Oregon State University Department of Public Health in Corvallis, Oregon. Her research interests are in evaluating equity and efficiency in health care services and system finance, comparing health care systems, management in health care organizations and health care policy. 
She has developed and teaches several undergraduate and graduate courses in management and international health, including Costs and Budgeting, Management in Complex Organizations, Health Systems Organization and Health Care Economics.

 

Aurora Sánchez Ortiz, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

Aurora Sánchez-Ortiz is Associate Professor of Management Information Systems and Director of the Information Technology Management Research Center at the Business School of the Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile. Her current research includes Electronic Government, Smart City, e- Participation and Ontologies. She has published her work in various academic journals, books chapters and conferences such as Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, Interciencia and Polis.

 

Nanda Kumar Bidare Sastry, Ramaiah Medical College and Hospitals, Bengaluru, India

Dr B S Nanda Kumar, MD, DNB, PGDHHM, MAMS, worked as technical analyst for medical evidence at Health Informatics Group (HIG), subsidiary unit of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at St John's Medical College till 2002. Subsequently pursued MD, DNB, MAMS and PGDHHM degrees.
Presently, he is Head- Research & IPR, Division of Research and Patents, GEF (M) in addition to teaching tenure as Associate Professor, Dept of Community Medicine, Ramaiah Medical College and Hospitals. He has extensive exposure to health informatics. He has been a member of technical committee of Media Lab Asia to evolve guidelines for information communication technology for primary health care in India.
He has contributed substantially for the UNIDO– GEF- GOI project 'Environmentally Sound Management of Medical Wastes in India'. He has provided technical support to WHO Training Center for SEARO- India, development of Operational Guidelines for telemedicine in primary health care, GOI, ISRO and for several other projects. He has been on the Editorial board member of several bio-medical journals. He has been an invited key speaker and invited speaker at several national and international conferences / workshops on research methodology, epidemiology, biostatistics, telemedicine, occupational health, maternal and child health, IT and health care, infectious diseases. He has to his credit nearly 25 publications and contribution to several books.

 

Priya Seetharaman, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, India

Priya Seetharaman is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. She is a Fellow of IIM Calcutta (Ph.D.). Her primary research areas include IT Governance, IS/IT strategy, Healthcare IT, Adoption, Use and Evolution of IT in Organisations. She is also interested in policy issues related to public healthcare systems and has more recently ventured into modelling agri-supply chains. Her papers have appeared in the Journal of MIS, Technology Forecasting & Social Change, Information & Management, Computers in Human Behaviour, Online Information Review, etc. She has also published in various leading information systems conference proceedings including ICIS,
AMCIS, HICSS, ECIS, ACIS, DSI, etc. As an IIMC faculty, she has been handling post graduate and doctoral level courses on Healthcare IT, IS planning and management, IT Governance and Business Process Management. Her courses broadly cover issues and challenges faced by end-users of IT, IT practitioners and Functional IT heads in user organizations.

 

Thant Syn, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, USA

Thant Syn is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the Texas A&M International University. He received his Ph.D. from the Florida International University, Miami, Florida; M.B.A. from the International University of Japan, Niigata, Japan; B.E. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Yangon Technological University, Yangon, Myanmar. He currently focuses on applying an innovative research method based on ontological analysis and synthesis to conceptualizing and envisioning a wide range of research domains including but not limited to information systems, healthcare informatics, healthcare policy, public policy, electronic government, social inclusion, big data analytics and project management. 
His diverse works have appeared in International Journal of Medical Informatics, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Theoretical and Applied E-Commerce Research and Journal of Database Management.

 

Sonia Yaco, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA

Sonia Yaco is an Assistant Professor and Director of Social Justice Projects and Research at University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She has a courtesy appointment in the Department of History. In her last position at UIC, she was the head of Special Collections and University Archives. Previously, she was the Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She is the founder and Senior Advisor of the Desegregation of Virginia Education (DOVE) project, a history preservation initiative. In her first career, she was the president of a computer consulting business. Yaco holds a Masters of Arts degree from the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of
Wisconsin–Madison. She is a regular contributor to scholarly journals on topics that include building cultural heritage collections that reflect the diversity of society and innovative methods to improve the discoverability of archives using emerging technology. Her coauthored chapter, "Cultural Heritage Curriculum Crosswalk: Using Metadata to Connect to Curriculum," will appear in Organization, Representation and Description through the Digital Age: Information in Libraries, Archives and Museums: De Gruyter Saur. (February 2018).

S .P. Kavyashree Prasad , ---


S .P. Kavyashree Prasad has a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Electronics Engineering from M.S.Ramaiah Institute of Technology. She has completed a six month internship in Nano Robotics Embed Technologies on embedded systems. She has also completed a one month internship in MUSE Diagnostics Private Limited on hardware prototyping of electronic stethoscope. She is currently working on ontological framework for medical device regulations and is studying Johnson and Johnson hip implants to provide policy recommendations to Indian regulatory system.
She is proficient in technical aspects such as MATLAB, PIC 16F877a, ARM, ARM CORTEX, Atmega Microcontrollers, Computer Vision, Digital signal and Image processing and Python. Her fields of interest are medical imaging, biomedical signal processing and smart wearable systems.
E: kavyashree_prasad@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 23601742
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Shashank S R, ---


Being a student of Public Policy & Governance, it was really important that I understand and be a part of the policy making process wherein, I could relate my classroom learning practice. My month-long internship with Ramaiah Public Policy Centre made way for such an opportunity. Being a part of a young and dynamic team facilitated my interactions and helped me grow, both as an individual and a policy professional. Being in the early year of my professional course, what I did require was mentoring which was taken care of elegantly. I believe this is just the right start to my career and I eagerly look forward to build
upon the same. I shall always cherish the trust and the autonomy provided by my team members to undertake my tasks. I hope and believe, the impact of Interning with RPPC has had on me translates into a milestone of my professional life in the years to come. I also owe my special thanks to Mr. Ajay Chandra, Dr. Chetan Singai and Dr Arkalgud Ramaprasad.
E: -
T: -
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Shraddha Vasudevan, Research Assistant


I am Shraddha Vasudevan, presently working as a Research Assistant at the Ramaiah Public Policy Center. My journey at the Center began as an intern, fresh out of college, where I had pursued my Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Economics and Journalism from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. RPPC provided me with a platform to reinforce my theoretical knowledge with practical application. Working at the Center exposed me to the multidimensional problems concerned with public policy and the methodological approach towards addressing them. I co-authored and presented a paper on eBhoomi:
An Ontological Analysis, at a national seminar on National Seminar on Emerging Trends in Public Policy and Implications for Development at Jyothi Nivas College. This gave me an opportunity to delve into the Center’s methodology and help develop an analytical approach towards policy scenarios. My internship experience provided me with several opportunities to explore my existing abilities as well as discover new ones that have aided in my all-round development. My time as an intern has provided me with many enriching experiences that have be great value additions in terms of both my professional as well as personal development
E: shraddha.vasudevan@rppc.ac.in
T: +91 80 2360 1742
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Jesna Philip, ---


Jesna Philip is a post-graduate student of Public Policy from Mount Carmel College. Currently she is interning at Ramaiah Public Policy Centre. She has worked earlier at Kloudbox-Hobnob as a marketing research analyst for a duration of 4-5 months. Interned at Bangalore Political Action Committee and worked on a paper title “Women’s Participation in National and State Parties”, budget analysis for past 10 years in Karnataka and in comparison, with Mumbai and Delhi. For summer internship, she worked at
Namma Bengaluru Foundation where she worked for lake rejuvenation in Bangalore.

Anushka Negi, ---


I am Anushka Negi and I had the opportunity to intern at Ramaiah Public Policy Center for a period of 2 months. I am currently in my third year, pursuing BSc. (Research) in Economics with a minor in Sociology from Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida. I have always had a keen interest in conducting research and writing and through the center I had the chance to explore my abilities further. I worked on a paper titled ‘Systemic Analysis of Swachh Survekshan in India:
An Ontological Analysis’ under Dr. Shwetmala Kashyap, Dr. Chetan Singai and Dr. Arkalgud Ramaprasad. Through this paper, the methodology of the Swachh Survekshan was analyzed in depth and the shortcomings were addressed. The extended abstract for the paper was sent to the 7th Pan IIM World Management Conference, Rohtak 2019. It was truly a learning experience and I have gained important insights in the domain of research and the working of public policy. RPPC has finally helped in shaping me into a much more informed student and the hands-on experience and interactions with the team has further facilitated greatly in my professional development.

Aniruddha Ravindra Inamdar, ---


I am Aniruddha Inamdar, an undergraduate student at Christ (Deemed to be University), interned at RPPC during my summer break. Being a student of economics, public policy is an imperative part in understanding the practical application of the theories. The internship was a wonderful opportunity for learning and applying the skills and the theoretical knowledge gained through the courses studied. I was able to discover my interests, strengths and new perspective about research in Economics of Education, focusing on the state of higher education in India during the course of my internship.
It has helped me gain a better understanding of the complexities involved in research, the rigor involved in it, and learn the process of evidenced-based research in public policy through ontological framework. I was familiarized with the new concepts in educational research, which I think will play an imperative role in my higher studies. I am greatly thankful for the opportunity given for a research internship and glad that I was able to complete the tasks of writing a commentary on National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) and a submit an abstract for an international conference in my limited time. The overall experience of the internship was fruitful. I owe my sincere gratitude to Dr. Arkalgund Ramprasad, Dr. Chetan Singai, Dr. Ajay Chandra and all the members of the RPPC team.

Prerana Nanjappa, ---


Prerana N is an undergraduate student in Media Studies, Economics and Political Science at Christ (deemed to be) University, Bangalore. Her previous research work includes her role as an investigative reporter on the employment laws for street vendors in KR Market, Bangalore and presentation of her research paper titled ‘Cinema – A Gateway to Power Politics in Tamil Nadu’ at BITS Pilani, KK Birla campus. She has also worked as an intern for Deccan Herald, a leading news organization in Bangalore in 2018. As a research intern in RPPC for a month in 2019, she worked extensively on inter-state migration in India.
She engaged in ontological studies and in the development of a conceptual paper and working abstract on social security and healthcare of interstate migrant workers. This helped her in understanding research techniques involved in fundamentally writing an academic paper and the work that goes behind it. In the process of learning a new research method, she found the opportunity to develop soft skills in management of tasks in academia. Not having prior experience in policy research, RPPC shaped her theoretical knowledge, further helping her in writing her thesis on “Roadblocks to Green Markets, A Policy Perspective”. She has currently been admitted as a Young India Fellow in Ashoka University, India for the cohort 2020-21.

Rahul Machiah, ---


I am a student at Azim Premji University, pursuing LLM in Law and Development. My areas of interest include public law, legal theory and public policy. I interned at RPPC for 6 weeks and it was a great experience. The conferences I attended as part of the internship gave me a new perspective on those topics. The highlight of the internship was my introduction to the method of Ontology which is unconventional in Social Science research .
The RPPC team is friendly and intellectual which makes working with them a pleasure.

Sukanya Subramaniyan Venkada, ---


I am Sukanya Venkada Subramaniyan, a third-year Economics undergraduate studying at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Having undertaken several courses in macroeconomic theory as well as public policy, I sought an internship that combined my interests and allowed me to examine economic policy in the Indian subcontinent. RPPC gave me the opportunity to pursue my interests, but further introduced me to policy problems from multiple domains and provided a methodological approach to address these problems systematically. In my time at the centre, I worked on an extensive analysis on the Draft
National Education Policy 2019. Along with Professor Ram, I created an ontological framework for Productive Employment Creation and submitted an extended abstract for IIM Rohtak’s 7th PAN World Management Conference. I am currently working towards a paper titled ‘Productive Employment Creation in the Indian Economy: An Ontological Analysis’. My two-month internship at RPPC equipped me with technical and data analytic skills for policy analysis, facilitated interaction with a dynamic team, and reinvigorated my passion for research and writing.