The Day the Chariot Moved: How India Grows at the Grassroots

Subroto Bagchi

Subroto Bagchi is the co-founder of Mindtree and the bestselling author of The High-Performance Entrepreneur, Go Kiss the World, and The Professional. He served as Chairman of the Odisha Skill Development Authority in the rank of a Cabinet Minister, shaping some of India's most acclaimed models of skill development. Along with his wife Susmita Bagchi, an accomplished writer herself, he has been a long-standing supporter of public health and education. His journey demonstrates how a leader in the government can transform the impact of welfare initiatives.

In recognition of their generous contribution, Ahmedabad University renamed its School of Public Health as the Bagchi School of Public Health.

Pankaj Chandra

Professor Pankaj Chandra is the Vice Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Management, Ahmedabad University. He was the Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and a Professor of Operations and Technology Management at IIMB. He has taught at various institutions such as McGill University in Montreal, University of Geneva, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, International University of Japan, Cornell University, Renmin University, Beijing, and IIM Ahmedabad (IIM A). He has worked briefly with The World Bank in Washington DC. He was the Chairperson of the Doctoral Program at IIM Ahmedabad and the first Associate Dean (Academic) at ISB, Hyderabad. He was part of the founding team at the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIMA and its first Chairperson.

Professor Chandra has served as member of the Government of India Committee on Clusters for Development of the Informal Sector. He was a member of the two High Powered Committees – the Government of India Committee on Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee) that re-looked at the Indian Higher Education system as well as the committee on the Autonomy of Central Institutions. He was a member of two Steering Committees constituted by the Planning Commission of India for 12th Plan Development, one on Higher and Technical Education (Where he also chaired the Sub-Committee on Student Financial Aid), and the other on Industry. He was a member of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) subcommittee on Teacher Education. Until recently, he was also a member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He was a member of RUSA (the higher education regulator) of the Ministry of HRD, GOI.

Professor Chandra’s research and teaching interests include Manufacturing Management, Supply Chain Coordination, Building Technological Capabilities, higher education policy, and hi-tech entrepreneurship. He had published extensively in international refereed journals and has served on the editorial boards of several international journals. He has edited a book titled “Technology Practices, and Competitiveness: The Primary Textile Industry in Canada, China and India” (Himalaya Publishers, 1998) and has recently completed manuscript for another book that studies issues of Governance, Change and Institution Building in Indian Public Universities.

He has been conducting the national survey on Competitiveness of Indian Manufacturing since the last 20 years.

Professor Chandra has been involved in several startups, has also been a consultant to large Indian and multi-national firms and serves on the Boards of several firms and institutions.