Get to know the team at YfGG

YfGG which is a new and vibrant organization has been founded by a group of four extremely talented individuals who are experts in their own fields. The team includes Sourav Mukherjee, Vinay N Bhushan, Basant Kumar, and Pradeep N Sawalkar.

About the Founders of YfGG

Sourav Mukherjee is a policy and development professional whose interests lie in the field of governance, policy, and program implementation and he has over four years of experience in the corporate and government sector. He is currently associated with the Indian Political Action Committee. Previously, he has been a fellow at the Ministry of Water and Sanitation and Tata Trusts, where he worked for the flagship program of Government of India, Swach Bharat Mission (Gramin) as Zila Swach Bharat Perak in the Bellary district of Karnataka and as a State Coordinator of Jharkhand. His contribution to the Swach Bharat Mission was also published in the Journal of Tata Water Mission. He represented India in the South Asian Economics Student Meet in Lahore. He has also worked with Tesco India Pvt. Ltd in Bangalore as Officer- General Merchandiser. His expertise lies in the field of government relations and policy and program implementation. Sourav has an exemplary academic record. He is an alumnus of Christ University, Bangalore, from where he did his under graduation in Economics and Azim Premji University, Bangalore from where he did his post-graduation in development studies with specialization in Law, Governance, and Policy.

Vinay N Bhushan is an international relations and public policy practitioner with a background in the Policy Planning and Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. In his previous role as the head of the Research and Content team in the education services sector, he was involved in the development and marketing of a range of educational products and services for students as well as corporate sector professionals. In 2017, Mr. Bhushan was a member of the Indian Delegation to the South Asian Youth Conference in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is an alumnus of Visvesvaraya Technological University, Bengaluru and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Basant Kumar is a development practitioner. His interests lie in the field of governance, health and nutrition, livelihood, and sanitation. He has over three years of experience in sanitation, health, and nutrition sector. He is also associated with Ministry of Home Affairs and Tata Trusts in the Transformation of Aspirational District Program. Previously, he has been associated with Tata Trusts as Zila Swach Bharat Prerak and SBI foundation as SBI Youth for India Fellow where he served as a consultant to the district administrations. He also has experience in working at the grassroots level in South Gujarat and Rajasthan where he has worked for school education. He was awarded the first prize at the Kerala International Film Festival, 2013 for his group documentary, “Life Behind the Bricks.” He had also presented an international paper on “Society and Governance” in Tezpur University. His expertise lies in program implementation and monitoring. Basant Kumar is an alumnus of Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Chennai and holds a Master’s degree in Local Governance.

Pradip N Sawalkar is a development practitioner whose interests and expertise lie in the Rural Development Sector and Soil and Water Conservation. He is associated with Usha Jaivant Foundation as Project Coordinator. He was previously a Chief Minster’s Rural Development Fellow and was associated with Village Social Transformation Foundation, Maharashtra where he worked with Fatehpur Gram Panchayat, Wardha. He prepared and implemented a three-year village development plan with the villagers, gram panchayat members, and local administration and CSR partners. During his tenure, the gram panchayats won several awards such as Adarsh Gram Panchayat (from Government of Maharashtra) and the award for the best work in soil and water conservation field (from Government of Maharashtra). Pradip is an alumnus of Mumbai University from where he graduated in Mechanical Engineering and Azim Premji University from where he did his Master’s in Development.

Apart from the four founding members, YfGG has an extremely talented supporting team who are also a part of the core team along with the founders. The supporting team members include S B Pradyoth, Saranya Jayaram, Abhishek Singh, and Aman Bhardwaj.

S B Pradyoth is a scholar at Indian School of Public Policy whose interests are in the field of Education Policy nd Governance reforms. He has experience in working as a Zilla Swachh Bharat Prerak with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. He assisted the District Administration of Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh in achieving the Open Defecation Free status through effective design of IEC campaigns and continuous on-ground monitoring. Prior to this he interned with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. As a student, Pradyoth was the head of volunteers at the Social Activities Wing of his university and he also represented his deanery at the Student Council. Pradyoth is an alumnus of Christ University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History, Economics and Political Science.

Saranya Jayaram is a researcher in Biotechnology, at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore. Saranya has always found her passion in Biology and her calling in social work, ensuring to broaden her scope of learning. She considers academia as the nurturer for the mind and social volunteering as the nurturer for the heart! After completing Masters in Biotechnology from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, she pursued lectureship for a short stint and then moved on to working in few Biotechnology companies where she found her calling in Cancer Research. Throughout her Undergraduate days at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, she was involved in various editorial committees of newsletter and magazine publications, contributing towards designing and content writing. She was also engaged in volunteer activities of CSA (Centre for Social Action), voluntary wing of the University. During her journey at CSA, she evolved from being a volunteer to becoming a troop leader and Student Council representative at the University level. Sketching, designing, writing and volunteering are her means for a creative getaway and she considers these to be ‘vocations that make dreams come true!’.

Abhishek Singh Abhishek Singh is a rural development professional having grassroot experience in working with the rural communities for their welfare and overall development. He is currently working as a manager at Transform Rural India. He has worked with the government for their flagship "Swachh Bharat Mission" program as a district resource. He is an alumnus of Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology and Hult International Business School. He believes in involving latest technology to make rural life simpler and meaningful.

Aman Bhardwaj is a senior reporter at India Voice who believes that words have the power to make a change. He is an alumnus of Presidency College and Indian Institute of Journalism and Mass Media. As a part of YfGG, he hopes to bring a positive change by engaging the youth in active participation in Good Governance and Public Policy.