22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society

Webmail Sitemap Contact Us

Go WWW

This Site

Home About Us Projects at a Glance Careers Media Corner Events

India’s Most Admired Think Tanks See Also

Education World, August 10, 2017
Media Room
Arvind Panagariya quits NITI Aayog:
Hitherto unknown and unappreciated, think tanks are thriving in Economist leaves behind a legacy
India with many coming of age. In the latest (2016) annual survey of that won't impress many
the world’s top think tanks conducted by the University of First Post, August 01, 2017
Pennsylvania under its Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, Myanmar
nine Indian think tanks are ranked among the Top 175 globally - weighsinfrastructure,strategictiesto
Indranil Banerjie China
Financial Times, May 31, 2017
When the
world’s #1 China and the US: an odd couple
think tank, doomed to co-operation
Brookings Financial Times, March 21, 2017
Institution, Archive
decided to
open an
office in
India in
2013,
many in
this
country
wondered
why a US-
based
think tank would want an Indian presence. There was more perplexity than
hostility. “When the idea for Brookings India first originated, many Indian
policymakers and industrialists questioned the role of think tanks, or why they
were useful or necessary,” says Vikram Singh Mehta, the Delhi-based chairman
of Brookings India.

Fortunately, mindsets have radically changed since then. Mehta, former

chairman of the Shell Group of Companies in India, explains: “Today, almost
anyone in the know understands the valuable role think tanks play as
generators of new policy research and neutral arbiters of ideas. A wide variety
of stakeholders appreciate the work being done by Brookings India and other
think tanks in shaping policy debates. Our experts feature regularly in the Indian
media and are called in to provide advice to the government. All of this augurs
well for the growth and development of think tanks in India.”

Once largely unknown and unappreciated, think tanks defined as organisations

which conduct policy-oriented research and analyses and provide advice to
governments, corporates and policy formulators on domestic and international
issues to enable informed decisions and build media and public opinion are
thriving in India with many coming of age. In the latest (2016) annual survey of
the world’s top think tanks conducted by the University of Pennsylvania under its
Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP), nine Indian think tanks are
ranked among the Top 175 globally. To constitute the TTCSP Global Go To
Think Tank Index, over 6,500 think tanks from 60 countries were invited to
participate, and were ranked by 1,950 scholars, public and private donors,
policy makers, and journalists using a set of 18 criteria (see box p.76).

Among the Indian think tanks ranked in the global Top 175: Institute for Defence
Studies and Analyses (#54), Centre for Civil Society (81), Indian Council for
Research on International Economic Relations (110), The Energy and
Resources Institute (112), Observer Research Foundation (119), Development
Alternatives (139), Delhi Policy Group (142), Centre for Land Warfare Studies
(172) and Centre for Policy Research (174). The University of Pennsylvania
survey notes that India “has experienced a dramatic growth in think tanks since
the mid-2000s” and hosts the fourth largest number in the world 280 cf. 1,835 in
the US, 435 in China and 288 in the United Kingdom (see box p.76).

http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 1/8
22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society
According to Dr. Parth Shah, founder president of the Centre for Civil Society
(estb.1997), Delhi, growing awareness of enlightened public policy as a means
to socio-political development has fuelled the growth of think tanks in India. “The
past decade has seen growing interest among education institutions in public
policy currently there are over 21 public policy undergraduate and postgraduate
programmes offered in India. There’s also a gradual change in the attitudes of
young people. Today’s youth believe in the ‘power of knowledge’ as opposed to
the age-old practices of morchas and dharnas (demonstrations and strikes) and
in creating an informed citizenry to bring about change. The number of
fellowships, internships and opportunities for young people to enter the public
policy sector is growing by the year.”
“Think tanks are public-policy research analysis and engagement
organizations that generate policy-oriented research, analysis, and advice
on domestic and international issues, thereby enabling policymakers and
the public to make informed decisions about public policy. Think tanks
may be affiliated or independent institutions that are structured as
permanent bodies, not ad hoc commissions. These institutions often act
as a bridge between the academic and policymaking communities and
between states and civil society, serving in the public interest as
independent voices that translate applied and basic research into a
language that is understandable, reliable, and accessible for
policymakers and the public."

Source: Think Tanks and Policy Advice in the US (Routledge 2007) and
The Fifth Estate: The Role of Think Tanks in Domestic and Foreign Policy
in the US (University of Pennsylvania Press)
When the government of India discerned a need for independent research and
policy inputs on economic affairs, it re-jigged its socialist-era Planning
Commission to form the country’s largest think tank — NITI (National Institute
for Transforming India) Aayog. Though technically, NITI Aayog is another arm of
the Union government, intrinsic to its formation is the idea that government
needs inputs for better policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.
Several attempts to interview Dr. Arvind Panagariya, an economics professor of
Columbia University appointed vice chairman of NITI Aayog, proved infructuous
as he had decided to resign which he duly did on August 1.

NITI Aayog apart, as in other Asian countries, many think tanks in India are
either government- funded or affiliated such as the top-ranked Institute of
Defence Studies & Analyses, Indian Council of World Affairs and Indian Council
for Research on International Economic Relations. While government think
tanks are flush with funds, for private, independent think tanks, raising funds
isn’t easy as corporate and philanthropic grants and research funding tend to be
grudging.

Comments Subrat Das, executive director, Centre for Budget and Governance
Accountability, a Delhi-based not-for-profit think tank: “As far as the growth and
development of independent think tanks is concerned, the socio-political
environment in India is not any more conducive today than it was in the past.
While the avenues for dissemination of our research findings and opinions have
expanded rapidly due to the proliferation of social media and news portals,
funding opportunities for think tanks have declined.”
World’s Top 10 think tanks

1. Brookings Institution (United States)

2. Chatham House (United Kingdom)
3. French Institute of International Relations
4. Center for Strategic and International Studies (United States)
5. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (United States)
6. Bruegel (Belgium)
7. RAND Corporation (United States)
8. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (United States)
9. Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil)
10. Council on Foreign Relations (United States) India’s top think tanks
54. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Delhi
81. Centre for Civil Society, Delhi
110. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, Delhi
112. The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi
119. Observer Research Foundation, Delhi/Mumbai
139. Development Alternatives, Delhi
142. Delhi Policy Group
172. Centre for Land Warfare Studies, Delhi
174. Centre for Policy Research, Delhi

http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 2/8
22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society

Source: Global Go-to Think Tank Index 2016 (University of Pennsylvania)

Critical to think tanks producing quality research, analysis and policy papers is
their ability to attract highly respected authors, professors and elder statesmen
as scholars and researchers. Fortunately, an increasing number of academics
and researchers are opting to contribute to the national policy development
effort. “Think tanks can’t compete with corporate salaries, but they have learnt
that it is important to attract talent. The good news is that many young people
are showing interest in the development sector and want to engage with issues
of polity, probity and governance,” says Pradeep Mehta, founder secretary-
general of the Jaipur-based CUTS International, a consumer rights think tank.

Rukmini Banerji, Delhi-based chief executive of the country’s pioneering

education think tank, ASER Centre, promoted by education NGO Pratham in
2008, concurs. “Even though pecuniary benefits in non-government agencies
and think tanks are much less than in corporates, many IIT and IIM graduates
are opting to join the development sector. This is a positive outcome.”

The fact that India hosts the fourth largest number of think tanks worldwide, and
that they have survived and multiplied and attract erudite faculty and scholars,
indicates that there’s growing appreciation of the valuable role they play in
shaping public opinion and aiding policy formulation. In the pages following, we
offer snapshot profiles of India’s most admired think tanks engaged in valuable
research on issues of national importance.
Brookings India
Relatively late (2013) in planting its flag on Indian soil is the Brookings
Institution India Centre, aka Brookings India. However, its belated arrival is most
welcome because its parent think tank, the Washington DC-based Brookings
Institution, enjoys an awesome reputation in the US and is routinely ranked the
world’s #1 think tank in the annual survey conducted by University of
Pennsylvania under its Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP). In
the latest 2016 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report of TTCSP, unsurprisingly
Brookings Institution USA is ranked the #1 think tank worldwide.

Established four years ago, Brookings India is the initiative of its founder-
chairman Vikram Singh Mehta, an alum of Oxford and Tufts universities who
served with various European petroleum companies and retired as chairman of
the Shell Group of Companies in India in 2012, following which he was
appointed the first chairman of Brookings Institution India Centre. Currently, the
centre has 15 scholars/researchers on its muster rolls including top-ranked
economists Subir Gokarn and Rakesh Mohan, both of whom have served as
former deputy governors of the Reserve Bank of India, and Waheguru Pal Singh
Sidhu, formerly with the EastWest Institute, New York.

Focus areas. While the ambit of Brookings India scholars spans the domains of
development and governance, trade and investment, foreign policy, energy and
sustainability, digital economy and regulatory issues, over the past year it has
been focusing on “important topical issues” such as public understanding of
government electricity subsidies, impact of electronic voting machines, making
health and morbidity data accessible for policy analysis, and the future of India-
US relations. Among its long-term policy initiatives, reform of India’s coal sector,
the concept of a universal basic income and fine-tuning of India’s ‘Act East’
policy are priority areas. “The focus is now on consolidating our presence and
expanding the scope to sectors such as education,” says Mehta.
Centre for Civil Society
The 2016 survey of the world’s top think tanks conducted by the University of
Pennsylvania under its Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program ranks the
Delhi-based Centre for Civil Society (CCS, estb. 1997) #54 worldwide and #2 in
India. Dr. Parth J. Shah, an alumnus of MS University, Baroda and Auburn
University, USA, and former professor of economics at Michigan University who
returned to India in 1997 to promote CCS, says the high ranking is an
acknowledgement of the centre’s efforts “to transform ideas and mindsets and
enable effective policy reforms to foster choice and accountability across the
public and private sectors”.

Focus areas. CCS’ main areas of focus are education for all, law, liberty and
livelihood, good governance and communities, markets and environment. The
society’s relentless campaign for protection of street vendors’ right to livelihood
has resulted in the Supreme Court legalising street vending in Rajasthan.

According to Shah, currently CCS’ prime focus is on “reshaping the school

http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 3/8
22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society
education policy landscape — shifting the focus to learning outcomes,
expanding choice in education and advocating deregulation of the private
sector”. Among its notable education achievements: CCS presented
recommendations to Niti Aayog for formulation of the New Education Policy;
successfully initiated a ‘centralised lottery’ system for admission of EWS
(economically weaker sections) students under the RTE Act’s 25 percent quota
for poor neighbourhood children; and trained and skilled 2,000 youth under its
Vikalp Skill Voucher pilot project.

Moreover, CCS has trained over 445 youth, 90 journalists and 61 young
professionals through its certificate course on public policy. “Engaging with
youth and students is integral to CCS’ activities. Through campus talks, training
and credit courses we want to nurture leaders with new ideas. Last year, we
interacted with over 2,950 students of top universities countrywide,” says Shah.
Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability
The Delhi-based Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) was
established in 2002 as a programme of the Pune-based National Centre for
Advocacy Studies, and spun off as an independent organisation in 2005 with
the mandate to promote transparent, accountable and participatory governance.
“CBGA is one of the few think tanks in the country that analyses fiscal policy
and budgetary processes. The focus is on the impact of fiscal policies and
government budgets on underprivileged sections of the population. As a result,
our research has provided useful evidence and perspectives for civil society
organisations and social activists to help strengthen their policy advocacy
efforts,” says Dr. Subrat Das, an economics alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru
University, Delhi and research scholar at CBGA since 2002, who was appointed
executive director of the centre in 2010.

Focus areas. CBGA’s primary objective is to promote transparent and

accountable governance. In January this year, the centre launched an open
data portal on government budgets in India (openbudgetsindia.org) with its
research focusing on policy framework and budgetary priorities for critical
development sectors such as education, health, nutrition, drinking water and
sanitation, agriculture and food security, and responsiveness of budgets to
disadvantaged sections of population.

With a total income of Rs.4.9 crore in 2015-16 and served by a core faculty of
29 researchers and scholars, CBGA’s donors include the Ford Foundation,
International Development Research Centre, Centre for International Policy
Project, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Unicef among others.

Dr. Das plans to expand the centre’s scope of work manifold in the coming
years. “We plan to strengthen our research work in a number of areas, viz.
building a robust body of evidence on implementation of government
programmes through field survey-based research studies; comparative analysis
of state government budgets in the context of fiscal federalism; using ICT to
improve governance and budget processes in the country; and promoting ways
in which India’s budget data can be made ‘open’, usable and easy to
comprehend,” says Das.
Indian Institute of Dalit Studies
The Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) was promoted in 2003 by
academicians and civil society activists to understand the problems of
marginalised groups of Indian society, identify the causes of their
marginalisation and suggest policies for their empowerment. Based in New
Delhi, over the past decade IIDS has collaborated with various ministries of the
Central and state governments to develop policies and schemes for progressive
upliftment of backward communities.

“IIDS has been recognised as a Centre with Potential for Excellence by the
Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, and as an Emerging Centre
for Social Science Research by Department of International Research, South
Asia Research Hub. We are one of the foremost institutions working in the area
of social exclusion and discrimination,” says Sanghamitra S. Acharya, an
alumna of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and University of Botswana and
director of IIDS (annual budget: Rs.3.86 crore).

Among IIDS’ biggest supporters are the Union ministries of social justice and
empowerment, rural development and human resource development.

Focus areas. The institute is primarily focused on studies commissioned to

influence policy interventions in the areas of affirmative action in the private
sector, strengthening the Panchayati Raj system and development of guidelines
http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 4/8
22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society
for classroom behaviour and teacher training modules to address issues of
caste discrimination. IIDS has also collaborated with Action Aid, UNICEF,
UNDP, University of Birmingham, UK, among others in the area of social
inclusion and empowerment.
Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
Established in 1981, the Delhi-based Indian Council for Research on
International Economic Relations (ICRIER) is widely regarded as the country’s
premier think tank on issues related to economic policy and India’s place in the
global economy. “At a time when inward looking economic policies were at their
peak in India, ICRIER was one of the first outward looking think tanks to
advocate greater, intensive engagement with the global economy. Our biggest
achievement is that we have been able to influence economic policy making in
India through evidence-based research,” says Dr. Rajat Kathuria, former
professor of economics at the University of Maryland (USA) and the
International Management Institute, Delhi who was appointed director of ICRIER
in September 2012.

With a healthy endowment fund of Rs.47.91 crore, ICRIER attracts highly-

qualified research scholars and academics. Its Board of Governors is chaired by
well-known economist Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia and includes Nandan Nilekani,
Tarun Das, Chanda Kochchar, Anand Mahindra and Uday Kotak among others.

Focus areas. Primarily focused on economic policy research, it has expanded

its scope to include research on manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors,
climate change, urbanisation, entrepreneurship and jobs creation. As one of the
most reputed economic think tanks in the country, ICRIER is routinely
contracted by various ministries of the government for “single sourcing of
research” on key policy issues.

“Over the years, many of our policy recommendations have been implemented
by government. Among them: direct selling, single and multi-brand retail and
mega food parks policies. In addition, we have contributed to bilateral Free
Trade Area negotiations, particularly for Korea, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and the
SAARC regional integration process. The India-Pakistan trade liberalisation
process initiated in 2012 was also based on evidence provided by ICRIER,”
says Kathuria.
CUTS International
Since it was founded by a
voluntary group of citizens in
1983 to apprise rural citizens in
the north-western state of
Rajasthan about various
schemes of the Central and
state governments promoted for
their welfare and upliftment, the
Jaipur-based CUTS (Consumer
Unity & Trust Society)
International has evolved into
the country’s foremost consumer
rights and protection
organisation. It currently
operates five programme
centres and an advocacy centre
in India (three in Jaipur, one
each in Chittorgarh and Kolkata), two resource centres in Africa and one in the
UK.

“We are probably the only NGO in the world recognised for our persistent
advocacy of competition laws and policies in over 25 developing countries. We
have shown through empirical evidence how in the absence of proper regulation
and competition, consumers are blocked out from participating in the economy,
thus negating the gains of liberalisation,” says Pradeep S. Mehta, a relentless
consumer rights champion and founder secretary-general of CUTS-International
which has a headcount of 100 employees.

Focus areas. CUTS’ primary focus areas are consumer protection; international
trade and development; promoting competition, investment and economic
regulation; human development and consumer safety. According to Mehta,
CUTS has formulated a “vision document for 50 years and five-year strategic
business plans” to guide its future growth. “Our focus areas are directly linked to
the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. We will continue to focus
on consumer protection and human development and help achieve the SDGs’
http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 5/8
22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society
objective of ‘leave no one behind’,” he says.

Among its donors, CUTS (annual budget: Rs.9.74 crore) boasts AusAID, DFID
(UK and India), various Union government ministries, the United Nations,
Consumers’ International (UK), HIVOS (Netherlands), International
Development Research Centre (Canada), and the Ford Foundation (USA).
ASER Centre
Established in 2008 by Pratham Education Foundation (estb. 1994), India’s
pioneer and premier education NGO, the ASER Centre is an autonomous
assessment, survey, evaluation and research institute which assesses the
outcomes of social sector programmes in the country. “Pratham’s research arm
— ASER Centre — produces evidence for action through a variety of activities
of assessment, survey, evaluation, research and communication. Also, given the
fact that the centre is part of Pratham, an implementation organisation working
to improve quality of primary education countrywide, we are able to act on
evidence,” says Dr. Rukmini Banerji, a highly-qualified alumna of the Delhi
School of Economics, Oxford and Chicago universities, who worked as a
programme officer at the Spencer Foundation, Chicago for several years before
returning to India in 1996. Currently, she is chief executive of the Delhi-based
Pratham Education Foundation.

Focus areas. Pratham’s invaluable flagship initiative is publishing the Annual

Status of Education Report (ASER), a citizens-led assessment of learning
outcomes of children in the 5-16 age group in rural India. Conducted since
2005, ASER involves resource mobilisation on a massive scale. For instance,
the 2016 survey involved networking with 500 local organisations and
mobilisation of 25,000 volunteers (mainly college students) who fanned out
across 589 rural districts to test the unprepared literacy and numeracy capability
of 562,305 children (in the age group 3-16) of 350,232 households in 17,473
rural habitations, making it the largest learning assessment survey countrywide.
According to ASER 2016, nationally, only 42.55 percent of children in class II
are able to read class I level texts while a mere 27.7 percent can do two-digit
subtraction sums.

“ASER has contributed significantly to changing the national discourse on

elementary education from inputs to outcomes. ASER was initiated because
there was no nationwide data on learning outcomes of primary school children
in rural India. Also, all education policies exclusively focussed on enrolment,
gender equality and infrastructure provision. This resulted in the RTE Act which
guarantees ‘Right to Schooling’ rather than ‘Right to Learning’. All this is now
changing and the incumbent government is focused on learning goals and
outcomes,” says Banerji.

ASER apart, the centre has produced several high-impact education research
studies including the India Early Childhood Education Impact study, Bihar
Elementary School Study, and Inside Primary Schools. Moreover, it conducts
courses and workshops to build the capacity of individuals and institutions to
design, implement and understand assessment of education/social sector
programmes.
NITI Aayog
The Socialist-era Planning Commission, established in 1950 by India’s first
prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to devise and implement Soviet-style central
planning for every sector of the economy, was formally abolished by the
Narendra Modi-led BJP government, and replaced by the National Institution for
Transforming India (aka NITI Aayog) on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog, which
bills itself as “the premier policy ‘think tank’ of the government of India, providing
both directional and policy inputs”, is mandated with designing strategic long-
term policies and programmes for the Union government and providing
“technical advice” to the Centre and states.

Although the prime minister is the ex officio chairperson of Niti Aayog, the think
tank is effectively managed by its vice chairperson Dr. Arvind Panagariya,
professor at Columbia University on deputation to NITI Aayog and CEO
Amitabh Kant, a former bureaucrat. The think tank also has three prominent
members: V.K. Saraswat, former defence secretary, economist Dr. Bibek
Debroy and agricultural economist Prof. Ramesh Chand.

Focus areas. Though the Planning Commission has been junked, its new
avatar retains much of the old infrastructure and government work culture.
According to the official website, “the core of NITI Aayog’s creation are two hubs
— Team India Hub and the Knowledge and Innovation Hub. The Team India
Hub leads the engagement of states with the Central government, while the
http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 6/8
22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society
Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds NITI’s think-tank capabilities.” Repeated
efforts to interview any of the top brass proved unsuccessful with the Aayog in a
churn. Panagariya resigned his office on August 1.
Institute of Defence Studies & Analyses
The Central government-funded Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses
(IDSA, estb.1965) is ranked India’s #1 think tank in the University of
Pennsylvania’s latest survey for good reason. It’s easily the country’s most well-
funded and prolific think tank with a well-qualified multi-disciplinary research
faculty drawn from academia, the defence and civil services. Wholly funded by
the Union ministry of defence, it is sited on an expansive campus in New Delhi
with an administrative building hosting office spaces, a library, world-class
auditorium, conference rooms, and residential apartments for visiting scholars.

The credit for transforming IDSA into the country’s most well-equipped think
tank is unanimously given to Dr. K. Santhanam who served as director from
2001-2004. A government scientist who supervised several top-secret projects
including missile and submarine development, Dr. Santhanam succeeded in
pushing through IDSA’s massive infrastructure development and expansion
plans through government red tape. Unfortunately, in recent years IDSA’s
success and deep government linkages have attracted the attention of defence
and foreign ministry bureaucrats who have usurped the director’s position
leading to much frustration amongst its research scholars. Therefore,
unsurprisingly in the tradition of Indian super bureaucrats who have scant
respect for public accountability, your correspondent’s several efforts to
interview the director re-designated as “director general” Jayant Prasad proved
futile.

Focus areas. IDSA’s primary focus is on national security research and

analysis. “The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses is a non-partisan,
autonomous body dedicated to objective research and policy relevant studies
on all aspects of defence and security. To achieve its goals, the Institute
undertakes: a) Scholarly research; b) Policy-oriented research; c) Dissemination
of research findings; d) Training and capacity building; and e) Public education,”
says its website. It also hosts several national and international conferences on
defence and security-related issues with its prestigious Asian Security
Conference attracting defence scholars and experts from around the world.
Observer Research Foundation
Promoted in 1990 on the eve of India’s historic liberalisation and deregulation
initiative of 1991, the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF) was
established with the objective of bringing economists and policy makers
together to facilitate the process of economic reforms and aid India’s transition
from “a protected economy to a new engagement with the international
economic order”. Since then, ORF founded by the Ambani family, promoters of
Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest private sector company (revenue:
Rs.320,000 crore in 2017) has expanded its ambit to security and strategic
studies, economy and development, and energy and resources, providing
valuable independent research analyses and inputs to decision-makers in
government, business, academia and civil society around the world.

ORF’s first chairman was veteran journalist R.K. Mishra (1932-2009), former
editor of The Sunday Observer and The Observer of Business and Politics
newspapers (since discontinued) promoted by Reliance Industries. Currently,
ORF’s team of 300 scholars and experts is led by Dr. Sunjoy Joshi, an alumnus
of Allahabad and East Anglia (UK) universities who served the Union
government as an IAS officer in various capacities for over 25 years, before
being appointed director of the foundation in 2007.

Focus areas. With a mandate to “lead and aid policy thinking towards building a
strong and prosperous India in a fair and equitable world”, ORF conducts “in-
depth research” and provides “inclusive platforms” on a wide range of issues
including climate, energy and resources, cyber and media, economy and
growth, global governance, national security, strategic studies and politics of
reform. Moreover, it hosts five prestigious “forums” i.e, events the Asian Forum
on Global Governance, ORF BRICS Forum, CyFy: The India Conference on
Cyber Security and Internet Governance, ORF Kalpana Chawla Annual Space
Dialogue and the Raisina Dialogue on issues of geopolitics and economics.

This news can also be viewed at: http://www.educationworld.in/

http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 7/8
22/01/2019 CUTS International - Consumer Unity & Trust Society
Archive

Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS)

D–217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302016, Rajasthan,
India
Ph: +91 141 2282821, Fax: +91 141 2282485, Email:
cuts@cuts.org

http://cuts-international.org/media/Indias_Most_Admired_Think_Tanks.htm 8/8