GOVERNANCE
BAIF Development Research Foundation is registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act 1950 and is also recognised as a Scientific Research Organisation.
The BAIF Governance comprises of the Board of Trustees, Board of Management and the Executive Committee (EC). BAIF Trustees are eminent Administrators, Industrialists, Scientists and Development Professionals with rich experience, who guide the organisation in fulfilling its mission, ensure its technical and financial performance and safeguard its interest and reputation. The members of the Board of Trustees also constitute members of permanent Sub-Committees / Working Committees such as the Executive Committee of BAIF Trustees (ECT), the Finance Committee and the Human Resources Committee. Some of the Trustees are also Directors on the Board of the BAIF Institute for Sustainable Livelihoods and Development (BISLD), an Associate Organisation of BAIF.
Board of Trustees
Mr. Hrishikesh Mafatlal
Chairperson, BAIF
Chairman and Chief Executive
Arvind Mafatlal Group of Companies
Business philanthropist
Mr. Sunil Lalbhai
Chairperson – Finance Committee and
HR Committee of BAIF Trustees
Chairman of the Board and Managing Director, Atul Ltd. of the Lalbhai Group of Industries
Mrs. Rajashree Birla
Trustee, BAIF
Padma Bhushan; Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives
and Rural Development; Corporate Philanthropist
Mr. Kishor Chaukar
Trustee, BAIF
Former Managing Director, Tata Industries;
combines managerial expertise with strong development antecedents; held key positions in Tata Group
Dr. Anand Deshpande
Trustee, BAIF
Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Systems
Dr. Anil Kakodkar
Trustee, BAIF
Padma Vibhushan; Eminent Nuclear Physicist and former Chairman, Atomic Energy
Commission of India; Chairman, Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Commission, Mumbai
Mr. Deepak Mehta
Trustee, BAIF
Vice Chairman and Managing Director,
Deepak Nitrite Limited
Dr. Devendra Raj Mehta
Trustee, BAIF
Padma Bhushan; IAS (Retd.),
Founder and Chief Patron,
Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti
Mr. Pratap Pawar
Trustee, BAIF
Padma Shri; MD and Managing Editor,
Sakal Papers Limited, a reputed newspaper in Western Region
Dr. Rita Sharma
Trustee, BAIF
IAS (Retd.); Former Secretary – Rural Development, Government of India;
Board Member, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi
Mr. Sharad Upasani
Trustee, BAIF
IAS (Retd.); former Chief Secretary,
Government of Maharashtra with rich experience in Public Administration and Public Sector Corporations
Dr. Bharat Kakade
President and Managing Trustee, BAIF
Sustainable Development; Innovative Approaches on NRM; Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
Mr. Girish Sohani
Principal Adviser and Trustee, BAIF
Rural Livelihoods and Sustainable Development
Board of Management
(Strategic Leadership Team)
Dr. Bharat Kakade
President and Managing Trustee, BAIF
Mr. Girish Sohani
Trustee and Principal Adviser, BAIF
Dr. Ashok Pande
Senior Advisor
Scientific Research and Livestock Development Programme
Mr. Shrinivas Kulkarni
Group Vice President
Finance, BAIF
Mr. Sujit Gijare
Group Vice President
Human Resource and Administration, BAIF
Mr. Baregal Shivarudrappa
Vice President, BAIF
Regional Director, South Region
Dr. Alok Juneja
Vice President
Programmes and Livestock Development, BAIF
Dr. Jayant Khadse
Vice President, Livestock Development and Scientific Research
Ms. Pritam Chandak
Vice President, Finance
Executive Committee of Management
(Operations Management Team)
Mr. Veerbasappa B. Dyasa
Programme Director and Regional Director, West
M.Sc. (Microbiology).
Joined BAIF in 1985. Domain expert with special focus on project coordination, management and review, field monitoring and evaluation, financial systems management, human resources development and liaisoning with stakeholders for institution building.
Dr. Raviraj Jadhav
Programme Director and Regional Director, North
Mr. Rakesh Warrier
Programme Director and Regional Director, East
Engineer by profession with an advanced degree in Planning and Development.
Joined BAIF in 2012. Project design, development, planning and implementation; Coordination, documentation, review and field monitoring. Overseeing BAIF’s Eastern Region comprising of Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
Mr. Pramod Takawale
Programme Director – Agricultural Research
Dr. Rajashree Joshi
Programme Director
Ph.D. (Economics)
Joined BAIF in 2006. Development Specialist engaged in multi-state project development, coordination, networking and partnerships with CSR Organisations, mentoring of Development Fellows and Student Interns, Tribal and Holistic development, Climate Action Programme, Women empowerment and Nature-based Solutions.
Mr. Jayanti Mori
Joint Programme Director
Agriculture Graduate with Post Graduation in Sericulture.
Joined BAIF in 1995. Coordinated the Tribal Development Programme in South Gujarat including fostering and empowerment of farmer producer organisations, and consolidation of the programme across the country under the Tribal Development Fund of NABARD. Currently, coordinating various Government and CSR Projects in Gujarat and liaisoning with various stakeholders in the state.
Mr. Babasaheb Pakhare
Chief Thematic Programme Executive (Construction Technology and Infrastructure Management)
Civil Engineer with specialisation in ferrocement technology
Joined BAIF in 1989 Construction technologist and infrastructure domain expert overseeing construction facility management and town planning initiatives of BAIF in diverse locations.
Mr. Lekhraj Singh
Chief Programme Executive, Rajasthan
Mr. Sudhir Wagle
Chief Programme Executive, Maharashtra
Post Graduate in Rural Development.
Joined BAIF in 1988. Expertise in tribal development of Maharashtra. As Head of Maharashtra Programme, engaged in programme implementation, stakeholder engagement, resource mobilization and team development.
Mr. Sanwarmal Chejara
Chief Finance Executive, BAIF
Mr. Dharmesh Bhavsar
Chief Finance Executive, BAIF Livelihoods
Mr. Sandip Yadav
Chief Programme Manager and State Head, Uttarakhand
Mechanical Engineer; Specialisation in law and rural management.
Joined BAIF in 2018. Heading the Uttarakhand Programme with a specific mission of sustainable development of this challenging mountainous region apart from liaisoning with Policy makers and Corporates in the NCR Region.
Mr. Surendra Verdia
Chief Programme Manager, Rajasthan
Dr. Vitthal Kauthale
Chief Thematic Programme Executive (Farm Research and Seed Programme)
Ph.D. (Agriculture Development)
Joined BAIF in 1992 Engaged in Sustainable Agriculture research with focus on cactus pear fodder species as a source of livelihood in arid and semi-arid regions; Research Guide for Ph.D. in Environmental Science at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune.
Mr. Yogesh Sawant
Chief Thematic Programme Executive
Farm-based Livelihood and Climate Action
Mr. Raosaheb Kote
Chief Thematic Programme Executive
Natural Resources Management & Climate Action
Mr. Sanjay Patil
Chief Thematic Programme Executive (Agrobiodiversity)
B.Sc. (Tech. (UDCT)
Joined BAIF in 2005 Leads the Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Management Programme with focus on indigenous food crops, their documentation and promotion through community seed banks. Successfully registered 35 rice and sorghum varieties with PPV & FRA, Government of India and facilitated National Plant Genome Saviour Community Awards for seed conservationists including Padma Shri Award for woman conservationist. Member – Research Advisory Committee, ICAR-NBPGR, Government of India.
Dr. Manojkumar Aware
Chief Thematic Programme Executive
Animal Nutrition & Climate Action
Dr. Vinay Kumar Singh
Chief Thematic Programme Executive
Sustainable Agriculture, Poultry and Goatery
Dr. Sachin Joshi
Chief Thematic Programme Executive – Animal Genetics, Breeding and Genomics
Post Graduate in Veterinary Medicine
Joined BAIF in 2014. Coordinates advances in Animal Sciences with focus on popularisation of Sexed Sorted Semen Programme among smallholders. Also oversees the Livestock Genomics Programme.
Mr. Waman Kulkarni
Chief Thematic Programme Executive – NRM and Climate Action
Agricultural Engineer with post-graduation in Agriculture Extension.
Worked with BAIF from Aug 2009 to June 2013. Re-joined in 2022. Natural Resources Management and Climate Action Specialist with special focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation through watershed management, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, training and capacity building and liaisoning with various stakeholders.
Dr. Rajesh Jadhav
Chief Thematic Programme Executive – Chief Campus Executive, Jind Semen Freezing Laboratory
Specialization in Veterinary Medicine
Joined BAIF in 2007 Heads the ISO 9001:2015-certified bovine germplasm production centre – BAIF Maharishi Dayanand Embryo Transfer Technology Research Centre at Jind, Haryana.
Invitees to Executive Committee of Management
Mr. Vinay Mishra
State Head, Uttar Pradesh
Mr. Ritraj Singh
State Head, Karnataka
Mr. Bayina Peddi Raju
State Head, Andhra Pradesh
Mr. Gopal Reddy
State Head, Telangana
Mr. Sanjeet Sinha
State Head, Bihar
Mr. Sandip Kakade
State Head, Odisha and Chhattisgarh
Mr. Dharmendra Tiwari
State Head, Jharkhand
Mr. Pawan Patidar
State Head, Madhya Pradesh
Team BAIF
BAIF Employees and Associates – 6423 comprising of researchers, domain, financial, human resources, technology and development communication experts and field extension cluster-based network.
Whistle-blower Policy
Whistle-blowing is a structured process, which encourages and facilitates Personnel to report without fear, through an appropriate forum, any wrongdoing, unethical or improper practice, which may adversely impact the reputation of the Organisation.
E-mail:
BAIF Internal Committee
Ms. Lalita Joshi, Presiding Officer
Ms. Suneeta Kuvalekar, Member
Mr. Sanwarmal Chejara, Member
Dr. Prasad Kulkarni, Member
Ms. Ashlesha Deo, Member (BISLD State Branch Representative)
Ms. Preeti Karmarkar, External Member
Central Monitoring and Vigilance Cell
Dr. Prasad Kulkarni
Mr. Jay Prakash Sharma