ASPIRE at Charcha 2022

Conference
Hosted by:
Timeline:
Location:
India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Four panelists seated on stage during Charcha 2022, with a large screen behind them displaying the ASPIRE logo and the text “Hosted by J-PAL South Asia.”
Murugan Vasudevan, Chief Executive Officer, Veddis Foundation (left), in conversation with Vikrant Bhargava, Founder, Veddis Foundation (second from left), Amitabh Kant, former Sherpa, G20 and former Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog (center) and Shobhini Mukerji, Executive Director, J-PAL South Asia (right) at Charcha 2022 | Photo Credit: J-PAL South Asia

At Charcha 2022, J-PAL South Asia’s ASPIRE team partnered with the Veddis Foundation to organize three high-impact sessions, marking ASPIRE’s first public introduction. 

Anchored in one of Charcha 2022's theme of livelihoods and entrepreneurship, the sessions explored strategies to strengthen government capacity for evidence-based policymaking and drive impactful policymaking.

We hosted three sessions:

Plenary: Building Government Capacity for the Next 75 Years

Featuring keynote speaker Amitabh Kant, Sherpa, G20 Sherpa and former Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, the session explored long-term strategies for embedding evidence and data in public systems. The keynote was followed by a panel discussion. The discussion featured:

  • Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa and former Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog
  • Shobhini Mukerji, Executive Director, J-PAL South Asia
  • Vikrant Bhargava, Founder, Veddis Foundation 

Moderator : Murugan Vasudevan, Chief Executive Officer, Veddis Foundation

Living Books: Meet the Changemakers

This interactive session brought together five 'Living Books' —  influential voices with experience working with governments to catalyze policy innovations. They were:

  • Rukmini Banerji, Chief Executive Officer, Pratham
  • Yamini Aiyar, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Policy Research
  • Sohini Bhattacharya, Chief Executive Officer, Breakthrough
  • Vishnu Venugopalan, District Collector, Government of Tamil Nadu
  • Vijay Pingale, Chief Executive Officer, CEGIS

Session attendees had the opportunity to engage directly with the “Living Books” in candid group discussions. 

Digital Mavericks: Trailblazing Tech for Better Governance

Curated by the Veddis Foundation, this panel spotlighted tech-driven solutions to improve state capacity in critical sectors like health, education, and skilling. Speakers shared innovations and practical tools to enhance service delivery and build resilient public systems.

External Documents