Bharti Institute of Public Policy

21/08/2026

: The Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business is proud to announce the signing of a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department to unlock the State’s ₹22,600 crore forest and pastoral economy potential!

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Dr Sanjay Sood, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, and Professor Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, in the presence of Shri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.

The signing was graced by Ms. M. Sudha Devi, Principal Secretary (Personnel, Forest, Industries), Shri Patil Nitin Kundalik, Director (North), Himachal Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation, Dharamshala, Dr Aarushi Jain, Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business and Ms. Neha Chakravarty, State Coordinator, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business.

This partnership builds directly upon ground-breaking work completed in June, where a joint forest inventory of over 2,00,000 tree-level records collected by 500+ forest guards—combined with satellite imagery and AI mapping—was launched as the "Counting Green Wealth" publication.
This strategic collaboration focuses on four key pillars:

➡️ Establishing women-led Producer Companies and creating direct market linkages for sustainable bioresources.
➡️ Deploying an advanced geospatial platform powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and satellite imagery across the State.
➡️ Launching a comprehensive State-wide grazing portal under the Himachal Pradesh Grazing Policy, 2026.
➡️ Delivering structured training programs for forest department personnel and local community enterprises.

This initiative reinforces BIPP’s commitment to driving evidence-based public policy and technology-enabled governance for sustainable regional impact.

20/08/2026

💡 What drives multimorbidity in rural India?

In a study published in PLOS Global Public Health titled "Prevalence, patterns and associated behavioural risk factors of multimorbidity in rural India: Cross-sectional analysis from the Andhra Pradesh Children and Parents Study (APCAPS)," Santhi Bhogadi, Programme Manager – Field Research, Behaviour Change & Policy Engagement, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business and co-authors examine how behavioural risk factors drive the co-occurrence of chronic diseases in rural communities.

Their research highlights critical trends that shape the health of rural populations:

➡️️ Age increases health risks quickly, with chronic conditions jumping from under 3% in young adults to nearly 50% in adults over 60.
➡️️ Lack of physical activity significantly raises overall health risks and doubles the chance of having both anaemia and high blood pressure together.
➡️️ Poor sleep and to***co use increase the odds of developing multiple chronic conditions by 86% and 23%.
➡️️ The study demonstrates that modifiable behaviours actively drive chronic disease clusters in rural settings, where multimorbidity already impacts middle-aged adults.

These findings underscore the need for early public health interventions that target physical activity, sleep, and to***co use to protect rural healthcare systems.

📖 Read the full research publication here: https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0006694

The prevalence of multimorbidity is projected to increase substantially in India. Previous studies have focused on urban populations and older adults, who do not represent the majority of those at risk. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and investigate patterns of multimorbidity in a rural populat...

19/08/2026

| Supported by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy’s Initiative on the Forest Economy (IoFE), women directors from forest-based Producer Companies in Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Odisha, recently participated in a three-day residential training programme on Management of Women-Led Enterprises for Women SHG Members.

Organised by MoEF&CC at IIFM Bhopal, the training strengthened the directors’ skills in enterprise planning, finance, marketing, and forest-produce value addition, equipping them to build stronger, more sustainable PCs.

🔗 Read more: https://forestgovernance.in/

18/08/2026

Season 4 all-new episode! 🚀

The seventh episode of Bharti Institute’s Policy Talks explores women's leadership, public service, and impactful change through the lens of a seasoned administrative service officer.

In this episode, "Women, Leadership & Public Policy: Lessons from Four Decades in Public Service," Dr. Aarushi Jain, Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB, sits down with Ms. Sujata Saunik, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra.

➡️ Ms. Sujata Saunik shares how she overcame fear and stepped up as a role model while serving across diverse regions, mastering local languages, and culturally assimilating into every role.

➡️ She highlights the success of primary healthcare models in Maharashtra, where dedicated ANMs in over 200 sub-centres achieved safe deliveries with zero maternal and neonatal deaths.

➡️ She emphasises that simplifying processes, encouraging frontline workers, and bringing passion to public service drive long-term impact.

Tune in to explore inspiring insights on governance, public administration, and empowering women in leadership.

📺 Watch the full episode now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHc0gFGFbvE

14/08/2026

The Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, welcomed the 11th Cohort of the Advanced Management Programme in Public Policy (AMPPP) at the ISB Mohali Campus, and gave the incoming cohort a fitting way to begin not with a syllabus, but with a conversation on where governance itself is headed.

Dr. Aarushi Jain, Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB, opened the session by introducing the cohort, a group bringing together diverse professional experience from across the public policy space. In setting the context for the day, she framed the programme not just as a curriculum to complete, but as a shared journey the cohort was about to undertake together. It was the ideal lead-in to the inaugural address that followed.

That address came from Ms. S. Radha Chauhan, Chairperson, Capacity Building Commission, and it's rare for any cohort to begin its journey with a perspective quite like hers. As the chairperson entrusted with shaping how India's civil service builds capacity at scale, her remarks carried the weight of someone who doesn't just study governance reform, she is actively architecting it.

Ms. Chauhan laid out a forward-looking vision for governance, built around three ideas that ran through her address:

➡️ Technology is no longer a support function in governance, it is becoming central to how policy is designed, delivered, and course corrected.

➡️ Collaborative ecosystems across government, academia, and industry, are increasingly what make policy work in practice, replacing more siloed, top-down approaches.

➡️ Continuous learning is no longer optional for those in public service; it's the capability that lets institutions keep pace with a fast-changing governance landscape.

For a cohort about to spend the coming months immersed in exactly these questions, hearing them framed first-hand by someone at the helm of India's capacity-building agenda was more than a ceremonial welcome, it was a preview of the mindset the programme itself is designed to build.

As the 11th Cohort settles into AMPPP, that opening session leaves them with a useful starting point: the skills they are here to build aren't abstract. They are already reshaping how governance works, right now, at the highest levels.

13/08/2026

At the 17th FICCI Global Skills Summit in New Delhi, Dr. Aarushi Jain, Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, joined Mr. Vinay Swamy (Country Head, Pearson India), Ms. Vera Sdobnova (International Marketing Manager, ASCON Design Systems LLC), and Mr. Sanjay Bahl (Director - Strategic Advisor ex-NSDC, Director TNE India) for a panel discussion on “AI-Powered Futures: Rethinking Skills, Jobs, and Learning.”

The session opened with a presentation on the findings of the Knowledge Report on “AI in Skills” by session moderator Mr. Narayanan Ramaswamy (Partner & National Leader, Education and Skill Development, KPMG India).

Addressing the structural shifts needed to navigate the ‘Intelligent Age’, Dr. Aarushi Jain emphasised that AI requires educational institutions to move beyond static content delivery toward true capability building advocating for an academic architecture built on a stable core with a dynamic, continuously updated edge.

During the session, Dr. Aarushi Jain outlined three critical priorities:

➡️ Transform curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to align with an AI-driven economy.
➡️ Transition from traditional one-time degrees to modular, stackable, and personalised learning pathways.
➡️ Empower professionals to continuously reskill as technology and job markets evolve.

Through active representation at key global forums, the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB continues to lead national dialogues on future-ready governance and talent ecosystems.

12/08/2026

| The Bharti Institute of Public Policy’s Initiative on the Forest Economy recently guided the Adavithalli Green Producer Company as it completed its first institutional sale of Mahua seeds to Wild Harvest in Andhra Pradesh.

The Producer Company passed all financial returns straight to tribal women collectors in Sirisinapalli, Thulasipaka, and Somulagudem.

This success shows what genuine, fair-market connections can build: reliable prices, direct income, and secure livelihoods created through formal systems rather than local middlemen.

11/08/2026

Season 4 all-new episode! 🚀

The sixth episode of Season 4 of Bharti Institute’s Policy Talks explores civil service capacity building and learning at scale across India.

In this episode, "Learning at scale: Transforming India's Civil Service," Dr. Aarushi Jain, Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB, sits down with Mr. Rakesh Verma, Chief Operating Officer, Karmayogi Bharat, Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India (GoI).

➡️ Mr. Rakesh Verma reflects on the mission of iGOT Karmayogi and how democratising learning opportunities empowers civil servants at every level across the country.

➡️ He highlights the role of competency-based training and digital platforms in shifting governance from rule-based to role-based capacity development.

➡️ He emphasises that continuous, self-paced learning and technology-driven solutions are key to building a future-ready public workforce for impactful governance.

Tune in to explore inspiring insights on governance, public administration, and driving change through capacity building.

📺 Watch the full episode now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi9gj37JdiY

10/08/2026

: Meaningful nutrition reform requires more than just national food security, it demands grounded, multi-sectoral action.

A recent Business Standard review, ‘Solving the Nutrition Conundrum,’ takes a deep dive into India’s complex nutrition landscape, drawing insights from the volume Improving Nutritional Outcomes: Connecting the Dots Through Grounded Action.

Edited by Vandana Prasad and Arti Ahuja, the volume meticulously outlines how systemic health challenges can absolutely be solved at the grassroots level. Despite India facing a dual challenge of malnutrition and rising obesity, the review underscores a powerful message: targeted interventions, political will, and the active participation of women and local civil society networks are delivering measurable results.

It is a vital read for anyone interested in decentralised solutions, maternal health, and the power of community-driven public health programmes.

🔗 Read the full Op-Ed via Business Standard: https://www.business-standard.com/book

🔗 Discover the book published by Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Improving-Nutritional-Outcomes-Connecting-the-Dots-through-Grounded-Action/Prasad-Ahuja/p/book/9781041123101