PROFILES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMON CAUSE GOVERNING COUNCIL
A suggestion was made in the Society's annual general body meeting held on March 26, 2011 for publishing the profiles of members of the Governing Council in the Journal. The suggestion was readily accepted, for it was felt that it would not only enable the members of Common Cause to get to know the members of its governing body better, but would also open up new channels of direct communication in different fields, given the diversity of public causes and interests pursued by members of the Council. Accordingly, profiles of the members of our Governing Council, which have already been put up on our website, are being published in the present issue.
-Editor
Vikram Lal
Vikram Lal, former Chairman of the Eicher Group, was born in 1942. He did his Senior Cambridge from Doon School and studied mechanical engineering at Technical University, Darmstadt, West Germany.
He joined Eicher, the family company established by his father, in 1966. Eicher started as the first tractor manufacturer in India in 1960, and eventually branched out into light commercial vehicles in 1986, and then into heavy vehicles. Amongst other businesses, it acquired Royal Enfield, an iconic brand of motorcycles, in 1990. Having totally professionalised Eicher, Vikram Lal retired from business in 1997 at age 55, handing over the running of the Group to professional managers. In 2006, the leadership of the Group was taken over by his son, Siddhartha.
Vikram Lal has been involved in a number of voluntary organisations. He is the president of Common Cause, a public interest NGO pursuing major issues relating to reform, governance and the enforcement of law, since December 2004. His interest in education has had two distinct outcomes. The first is the setting up of quality English medium schools in Alwar, Parwanoo and Faridabad where the company had plants. The school in Alwar celebrated its silver jubilee in 2003. The three schools together have around 4000 students.
His second initiative has been in rural education, where an NGO formed by him, Goodearth Education Foundation (GEF), has been working with state governments and other NGOs in primary education for well over 10 years. Currently, GEF runs 36 schools with Bodh, a Jaipur NGO, in the Umrein & Thanagazi blocks of Alwar district. On Vikram Lal's initiative, the Eicher Group took on the responsibility of funding and running Dr Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital in Darya Ganj, Delhi. He was Vice President of the World Wide Fund for Nature India for 7 years and a member of the Board of Governors of the Doon School for 6 years. Currently, he is on the boards of Pratham Delhi Education Initiative and Resource Alliance India.
His interest in cartography resulted in the publication of the first Indian city map of international standard the Eicher City Map of Delhi in 1996, and of Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Chandigarh thereafter. The City Guide for Delhi was followed by a guide to Buddhist pilgrimage places called `Walking with the Buddha', a guide to Gurdwaras called `Walking with the Gurus', and many others, including special editions for the Archaeological Survey of India and for several state governments.
Vikram Lal is an internationally licensed and enthusiastic paragliding pilot.
Major General J. P. Gupta (Veteran)
Maj. Gen. J. P. Gupta belongs to the first batch of the National Defence Academy. He is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, National Defence College, New Delhi, and National Defence University, Washington DC (USA).
In the course of a distinguished service of 36 years, Maj. Gen. Gupta held a number of sensitive professional assignments, including those with the United Nations Emergency Force, GAZA; counter insurgency operations in Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir; and as Battalion Commander, Bangladesh operations; HOD (Logistics), Army War College; HOD, Army Service Corps, Central and Eastern Army Commands; and Commandant, ASC College.
After his retirement from the Army, Maj. Gen. Gupta has served as Chief Administrator, BM Birla Heart Research Centre & Hospital, Kolkata; Director, Tata Steel Limited, Jamshedpur; Advisor, Tata Metaliks, Kharagpur; Director, Group 4 Securitas, Delhi; Visiting Faculty, Amity Business School, Noida; and Member, Som Vihar Management Committee.
Divya Jalan
Divya Jalan has been a member of the Governing Council and Trustee of Common Cause since June 1999. Her professional work is in the area of education. She is committed to influencing policy makers, teachers and communities to create inclusive educational structures, regardless of the extent of economic disadvantages and disabilities that children may come with. She was educated at Calcutta University and University of London and did her doctoral work at SNDT University, Mumbai. She is a founder member of Action for Ability Development and Inclusion (AADI), and is on the executive boards of several organisations, including the Rehabilitation Council of India and the Goodearth Education Foundation. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of Association for Childhood Education International, Washington, D.C.
Jyoti Sagar
Jyoti Sagar graduated with Honours in Economics in 1972 and received his Bachelor's degree in Law from Delhi University in 1975. He has also attended the `Mergers & Acquisition Programme' at Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania.
He has been practicing law since 1976. He founded a corporate commercial practice - J. Sagar Associates (JSA)- in New Delhi in 1991 as a solo practitioner. JSA now has 240 professionals in 5 offices in India. He also founded K&S Partners in 1994. It now is an IP boutique with 75 professionals with 3 offices in India. Jyoti Sagar has extensive experience in a wide range of practice areas, including intellectual property, foreign investment, joint ventures, and technology transfers. He has worked on several policy issues and has been associated with various committees of the Government of India and Chambers of Commerce.
He is Vice President, Society of Indian Law Firms and a past President of Asian Patent Attorneys Association (India). He is associated with a number of national and international professional bodies and organizations. He is also associated with the voluntary sector and is currently President, Sampradaan Indian Centre for Philanthropy; Chairman, Society for Urban Regeneration of Gurgaon (an NGO which focuses on long term sustainable development issues); Trustee, Genesis Foundation (engaged in provision of critical medical assistance to orphans and underprivileged children); and supports Deepalaya (engaged in education of slum children in the National Capital Region).
Ashok Khosla
Ashok Khosla is Chairman of the thirty-year-old Development Alternatives Group. Headquartered in New Delhi, the DA Group was among the first civil society organizations set up to address the issues of sustainable development as a whole. It also pioneered systematic innovation of technologies for rural applications, the concept of social enterprise, creating business-like approaches for eradicating poverty and conserving the natural resource base. Concurrently, Ashok Khosla is President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's largest and most representative alliance of conservation agencies and interest groups; Co-President of the Club of Rome, a group dedicated to promoting systems-based strategic understanding of the world problematique and the human predicament; and Co-Chair of the Resource Panel, which has been set up by UNEP to investigate the status and trends of natural resource use in the global economy and its impacts on the biosphere. Ashok Khosla is an OBE and a Senior Ashoka Fellow, patron of LEAD-India and has received the United Nations Sasakawa Environment Prize, the Schwab Foundation Award for Outstanding Social Entrepreneur, the WWF Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal and the Stockholm Challenge Award. He has a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD in Experimental Physics from Harvard University.
Prakash Singh
Prakash Singh has been a distinguished police officer of India with an excellent track record for combating terrorism in the turbulent parts of the country. He served in the most volatile areas of Nagaland, Assam, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Kashmir. He was the Police Chief of Uttar Pradesh and Assam and also headed the Border Security Force. In recognition of his contribution to national security, he was awarded the `Padma Shri' in 1991.Prakash Singh is known as the architect of police reforms in the country. An expert on internal security, he has given lectures all over the world in universities, think tanks, police institutes, defence colleges and international seminars. He has written five books and contributed more than 250 articles to national newspapers, magazines and journals.
Prashant Bhushan
Prashant Bhushan graduated in Arts and Law from Allahabad University. He holds a Masters degree in Philosophy of Science from Princeton University, U.S.A. He has been practising in the Supreme Court of India since 1983 and has acquired a formidable reputation in public interest litigation, particularly in the domains of human rights, environment protection and accountability of public servants. He has contested a number of important PILs, including the Narmada Bachao Andolan case, the Bofors case, the 2G spectrum scam case, the CVC appointment case, the Radia Tapes case, the case for streamlining the implementation of the NREGS, the case against illegal mining of iron ore in the Bellary-Ananthpur belt, the NTRO scam case, the SEBI scam case and the case for enforcing transparency in the judiciary.Prashant Bhushan is one of the founding members of India against Corruption and the convenor of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform. He was a member of the Joint Drafting Committee on Lokpal legislation. Some of the books authored by Prashant Bhushan are: "The Case That Shook India" (Vikas Publications, 1977) and "Bofors: The Selling of A Nation" (Vision Books, 1990). He has contributed numerous articles on legal and political issues in major newspapers and magazines. He is a member of the governing bodies of several civil society organizations. Madhu Kishwar
Madhu Purnima Kishwar is Professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. She is the Director of the Indic Studies Project and convener of a series of international conferences on Religions and Cultures in the Indic Civilization. Her work on issues relating to Laws, Liberty and Livelihoods is aimed at evolving a pro-poor agenda of economic reforms in India. She is the founder editor of Manushi - A Journal About Women and Society, which was started in 1978. The journal has endeavoured to promote informed activism through research-based writing and critiques on various issues in a manner that integrates women's rights and concerns in each and every aspect of our national life and has steadfastly avoided the "ladies compartment" approach to women's issues. She is also the Founder President of Manushi Sangathan, an organization working for democratic reforms that will promote greater social justice and strengthen human rights for all, especially for women. Manushi is managed by a non-profit Trust. Ms. Kishwar describes her work with Manushi as a "labour of love" rather than a professional engagement. Madhu Kishwar has authored/edited several books that include: Zealous Reformers, Deadly Laws: The Potential and Limitations of Law as an Instrument of Social Reform in India, Sage Publishers (2008), Deepening Democracy: Challenges of Governance & Globalization in India, Oxford University Press (OUP), New Delhi (2005). Off the Beaten Track: Rethinking Gender Justice for Indian Women, OUP, New Delhi (1999). Religion at the Service of Nationalism and Other Essays, OUP, New Delhi (1998). ( Ed) The Dilemma and Other Stories by Vijaydan Detha, ManushiPrakashan (1997). Gandhi and Women, Manushi Prakashan, New Delhi, 1986. In Search of Answers: Indian Women's Voices from Manushi. (co-edited with Ruth Vanita), Zed Books, London (1984). Women Bhakta Poets, Lives and Poetry of Women Mystics in India from 6th to 17th Century (co-edited with Ruth Vanita),Manushi Prakashan, New Delhi (1989). B. P. Mathur
Birendra Prasad Mathur was a distinguished member of the Indian Audit & Accounts Service. He held the posts of Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General; Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Steel & Mines; Joint Secretary and Additional Financial Adviser, Ministry of Defence; and Accountant General, Maharashtra. He also served as Adviser to the Government of Afghanistan. After his retirement, he was appointed Director, National Institute of Financial Management. He has been a visiting faculty at Bajaj Institute of Management, Bombay and Punjab University, Chandigarh and has authored several books and a large number of articles on issues related to Governance, Public Finance and Economics, besides two novels in Hindi. B. P. Mathur is currently engaged in spiritual pursuits, writing and social activism. Lalit Nirula
After completing his B.A. Honours in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, Lalit Nirula graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University in 1966. He belongs to a well-known family of restaurateurs and hoteliers. The family business, which he joined in 1967, successfully brought new non-traditional food products, innovative concepts and modern work culture to an old, traditional society known for its classical as well as street food culture and came to acquire a position of leadership in the field of family foods. It was the largest Indian owned restaurant chain in the Indian sub-continent in 2006, when the family divested their shareholding. The group also made a variety of packaged processed foods and ice cream, cheese, bakery and confectionary products.Lalit Nirula's personal commitment to education has involved him with a number of educational and charitable institutions. These range from village and urban slum schools to the best private schools, colleges and institutes of liberal arts and science, home economics and hotel management, including the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology and the All India Board of Hotel Management and Catering Technology of the All India Council for Technical Education. He is also involved with the Blind Relief Association, Durgabhai Deshmukh College of Delhi University, and Shroff Eye Hospital, among others. Lalit Nirula has been active in hospitality industry affairs and is a past President of the National Restaurant Association of India and the Hotel & Restaurant Association of North India. He was President of the Indian Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society and was also an Executive Committee member of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India for over a decade. He is now doing his second 4-year stint as a Member of the Cornell University Council.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is an independent journalist and an educator. His work experience of 35 years cuts across different media: print, radio, television and documentary cinema. He is a writer, speaker, anchor, interviewer, teacher and commentator in English, Bengali and Hindi. His main areas of interest are the working of India's political economy and the media, on which he has authored/co-authored books and directed/produced documentary films. He lectures on these subjects to general audiences and also trains aspiring and working media professionals. He is a regular contributor to newspapers, magazines and websites and is featured on television and radio as anchor, analyst and commentator.
Educated at St. Stephen's College, Delhi University and Delhi School of Economics, he started his career as a journalist in 1977 and has been employed with various media organizations, including the publishers ofBusiness India, Business World, The Telegraph, India Today and The Pioneer. He worked with Television Eighteen between 1995 and 2001, when he anchored a daily discussion programme called "India Talks" on the CNBC-India television channel. From March 2007, he has been anchoring two one-hour-long weekly programmes for Lok Sabha Television a panel discussion called "Talktime" (earlier "Headstart") and an interview called "1-on-One". He has anchored programmes for other television channels.
He is, or has been, a visiting faculty member at many reputed educational institutions, including Indian Institutes of Management at Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata; Jawaharlal Nehru University; Jamia Millia Islamia; Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur; Film & Television Institute of India, Pune; Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie; and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. He is currently a visiting professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta served as a member of the Press Council of India from 2008 to 2011. In April 2010, as a member of a two-member sub-committee of the Council, he co-authored a 36,000-word report entitled "Paid News: How Corruption in the Indian Media Undermines Democracy".
He was the founder-director of the School of Convergence and has been a consultant at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, making presentations and writing papers on Indian politics. He was associated with a number of projects of the United Nations Development Programme and the International Labour Organization (ILO). He moderated two panel discussions at the ILO, Geneva, in June 2009 and at the ILO's Asia Pactific Regional Meeting in Kyoto in December 2011. He is currently president of the Foundation for Media Professionals, an independent, not-for-profit organization.
He is a director/producer of documentary films. One titled "Idiot Box or Window of Hope", which examines the impact of television on Indian society, was produced by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PBST) in 2003 and broadcast on Doordarshan. In 2006-07, he produced and directed a five-part documentary series in partnership with the PSBT entitled: "Hot As Hell: A Profile of Dhanbad", different versions of which have been broadcast on various television channels. In 2007, he directed a documentary film "Grabbing Eyeballs: What's Unethical About Television News in India" for PSBT that was followed up by another entitled "Advertorial: Selling News or Products?" in 2009. In 2010, he produced and directed a three-part documentary film series entitled "Blood & Iron: A Story of the Convergence of Crime, Business and Politics in Southern India" on the political, economic and ecological consequences of iron ore mining in Bellary (Karnataka) and Ananthapur (Andhra Pradesh). The film has been translated into six Indian languages and broadcast on different television channels. In 2011, he produced and directed a documentary film entitled: "The Great Indian Telecom Robbery". He has produced/directed a number of other documentary films. He was one of the first journalists to write about the telecommunications spectrum scandal in November 2007 and was one of the petitioners in PILs on the subject in the Supreme Court.
He co-authored a book, "A Time of Coalitions: Divided We Stand", Sage Publications, India (March 2004), with Shankar Raghuraman. It was able to anticipate the outcome of the 14th General Elections, the results for which came out in May that year. A substantially revised and enlarged version of the book titled "Divided We Stand: India in a Time of Coalitions" was published in 2007. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta has written "Media Ethics: Truth, Fairness and Objectivity, Making and Breaking News", Oxford University Press, India (2009 & 2011). He has contributed articles and chapters to books, including "Realizing Brand India" edited by Sharif Rangnekar (Rupa, 2005) and "India: The Political Economy of Reforms" edited by Bibek Debroy & Rahul Mukherji (Bookwell, 2004).
He is a partner of Media Network of India, a firm engaged in designing and creation of content for media, contract publishing, media training, establishment of radio stations and business development.
Kamal Kant Jaswal
Kamal Kant Jaswal holds degrees of Master of Science in Geology from Lucknow University, M.Phil. in Economics and Management of Public Enterprises from the University of Paris- XI and L.L.B. from Delhi University.
He served in the Indian Administrative Service for over 36 years. He held a number of important positions in the State of Uttar Pradesh and the Central government and also served in the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation for three years as Chief Technical Advisor of a major industrial planning project in the Republic of Mali.
As Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Information Technology, he formulated a comprehensive programme for development of the IT infrastructure in the country and piloted the National e-Governance Action Plan. After his retirement from the IAS in 2004, he was appointed Member Secretary of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector and played a key role in making it functional.
During his long public career, Kamal Jaswal specialized in the areas of rural development, industrial planning & promotion, public enterprise policy and privatization. His abiding interest in governance reforms drew him to Common Cause and he took charge as its Director and Chief Executive in March 2007.
