HO and State Team
Dinesh Songara
Deputy Director – Programs
Dinesh Songara holds a Post-Graduate degree in Public Health and Nutrition from Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi (2013); Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA) from Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning, Pune (2012); Master of Public Health
Dr. Anupa Vig
Deputy Director – Technical
Dr Anupa Vig has over 22 years of experience in all in the field of public health, a professional in the field of Obstetrics& Gynecology and quality in health care. She graduated from Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government College in Pune with an MBBS in Medicine and
She worked with a number of organizations in the public health field before joining LEHS|WISH, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (National Referral Center), Piramal Swasthya, People’s College of Medical Sciences and many others. Her primary competencies include quality improvement, laparoscopic surgery, telemedicine, in vitro fertilization, high-risk obstetrics, content writing, etc. She has made significant contributions to health care programs. She has also worked on numerous international projects
Chayan Roychoudhury
Assoc Director – Learning & Impact
A demographer with expertise in statistics, results-based management and developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks for large scale interventions on health, digital health, CRVS, Social policies and SDGs, Chayan Roy Choudhury has supported national and international
He has received MPhil degree in population studies from IIPS and has more than twelve years of experience in the development sector in projects and program, like Urban Health Initiative, Community based monitoring for impact assessment of Covid-19 on vulnerable families, Civil registration and Vital Statistics, Sustainable Development Goals, mSakhi digital health, and many others.
Currently, he is the Lead for Learning and Impact in the organization.
Akhil Kumar Chaudhary
Specialist – Programs
Akhil K. Chaudhary has served in the Indian development sector for more than three decades, overseeing large teams across many regions and multi-sectoral projects. He has collaborated with an array of stakeholders during his professional career, including community
He has extensive and diverse experience working in fields including education, health, microfinance, and eradicating poverty, as well as intersecting ones like gender, humanitarian aid & relief, and community mobilization.
Dr. Ruchi Bhargava
Specialist – Learning & Impact
Ruchi Bhargava has over 14 years of experience in social science research, especially in the areas of health, livelihood, education, water and sanitation, and other development issues. Over the years, her work profile primarily focused on conducting evaluations and
impact assessment of various social and development projects and schemes commissioned by various Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments and Donor Agencies. Her background in management followed by Doctorate in Economics enables her to contribute and engage in the development sector as well as manage development programs.
Satyaban Sahu
Lead – Learning & Impact
Satyaban Sahu is a trained demographer having Masters’ degree in Population Studies from International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, and M.Phil in Economics from Berhampur University, Odisha. He has over 15 years of working experience in M&E and
Research in the domains of HIV/AIDS, MCH, Family Planning, Nutrition, Social Policy and Child Protection, etc. Satyaban’s core proficiency lies in data collection, data quality assurance (DQA), development of M&E logical framework/result-based framework and rolling out M&E tools, methodologies and data analysis (both quantitative and qualitative); besides ICT based data know-how.
Vivek Kumar Asreker
Manager – Programs
He is a public health specialist with more than six years of ever-increasing expertise in the healthcare industry. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmacy from the TATA Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai and the School of Pharmacy D.A.V.V. in Indore,
He worked for Path before joining LEHS|WISH and has also held positions at the Smile Foundation, IQVIA, and India Health Action Trust. His primary competencies are business development, digital health, strategic thinking, project design, client management, research, and capacity building, among others. He has contributed to project management.
Anand Geddam
Manager – Administration
He has over 17 years of ever-increasing experience as an administration specialist. His master’s degree in business administration was earned at SCDL in Pune. He has held positions with the NHRC, the Centre for Catalyzing, Orbitsys Technologies, Wardex
Iffat Ara
Sr. Manager – Human Resources
Iffat is a seasoned professional with twelve years of experience in different domains like HR and Business Development. Prior to joining WISH, she worked at KTC India Pvt. Ltd. Iffat has also worked with other brands like BSES, Communique Marketing Solutions, and
Rajshree Sharma
Manager – Finance (GRC)
Ms. Rajshree Sharma is a finance expert with more than 5 years of progressively increasing expertise in the same field. She earned her business administration bachelor’s degree from Galgotias University in Greater Noida and her MBA with a finance concentration from CHRIST
She formerly worked for Save the Children India in Gurugram and was affiliated with ABNP & Co (LLP) Gujarat prior to joining LEHS|WISH.
Her major competencies are grant management, statutory compliance, budgeting, time management, etc. She has contributed to financial accounting.
Dr. Shalini Kapoor
State Program and Technical Head
Dr. Shalini Kapoor is a Medical Professional with specialist training in Pediatrics and Neonatology, Public Health Management and Medical law and Ethics. She brings with her 22 years of experience in health sector with clinical, public health expertise and competencies
in program planning, management, implementation and evaluation. Shalini has experience in managing large public health programs and employs strong team building approach with multi stakeholder perspective in bringing health outcomes, which reach the most underserved through capacity building and field connect.
Dr. Savita Sharma
Senior Specialist – Urban Health
Dr. Savita Sharma has total professional experience of 14 years in various positions in the private and government sector, especially with the Government of Madhya Pradesh. She has obtained Master’s in Healthcare Management from Indian Institute of Health Management
Research (IIHMR), Jaipur, Rajasthan; and Bachelor’s in Dental Surgery from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh University, Himachal Pradesh. At LEHS|WISH, she is responsible for Urban Health Quality Assurance as a Specialist.
Rohini Jinsiwale
Lead – CPHC
Rohini Jinsiwale holds an M.Phil degree in Economics with twenty-six years of experience in Public Health Sector. She is responsible for providing Techno-managerial support to NHM to strengthen the Health and Wellness Programme, Mental health and Geriatric care.
Her expertise includes program planning, Strategy designing, Programme implementation, data management and analysis, and process documentation of activities/programs/interventions, including coordination with all relevant internal and external stakeholders. She possesses strong communication and organizational skills.
Dr. Avichandra Arunsingh Golait
Manager- Public Health
Dr. Golait holds a Masters’ degree in Public Health from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is a dedicated, result oriented public health professional with more than five years of progressive experience in RMNCHA+
and public health insurance with strong relationships with administrators and department leaders to ensure the successful and effective operations of various programs.
Akhilesh Yadav
Manager- Learning & Impact
As part of the WISH state team, Akhilesh is responsible for all monitoring and learning related activities in Madhya Pradesh. In his current role, his key deliverables include Data Cleaning and Data Analysis for maternal health
programs; implementing M&E framework for other major program areas; and supporting various training programs.
Before joining WISH, he worked as District Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at Indian Health Action Trust’s RMNCH+A Project (June 2015-May 2016). His responsibilities revolved around providing monitoring support in strengthening the quality of data, and ensuring data availability on a timely basis. He also provided data related feedback to all government officials on major program components, and supported DHS, IMI, and Family Planning review meetings. The highlight of his role was capacity building of all Block level staff (BPM, BCPM, DEO).
Akhilesh holds a Master’s degree in Health Statistics, Master’s in Population Studies, and he is pursuing PhD in Biostatistics from IMS, BHU. His interest areas include Maternal Health, Child Health, Respectful Maternity Care, NCD, Health Management Information System, and Government Data Base.
Biswa Ranjan Patnaik
State Director, Rajasthan
A development sector expert, Biswa Ranjan Patnaik has more than three decades of experience working with the rural as well as urban communities. Mr. Patnaik has been part of senior leadership teams for about fifteen years, managing complex and multiple projects,
simultaneously, with diverse stakeholders. His area of work spans maternal and child health, nutrition, reproductive health and menstrual hygiene, family planning, WATSAN, education, household food security, employability, child protection, and child trafficking. At LEHS|WISH, Mr. Patnaik heads the Rajasthan SCALE Program, providing strategic direction on program implementation and scale-up; and leading the state-team.
Dr. Naresh Potter
State Technical and Program Lead
Dr. Naresh Potter has done MBBS and MD (Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases) from University of Rajasthan, India. Before joining LEHS|WISH, he worked with Piramal Foundation, Ministry of Health-Saudi Arabia, Jhpiego, UNICEF and Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare-Government of India. He was a practicing doctor for ten years before joining health program management assignments. Currently, he is managing LEHS|WISH programs in Rajasthan.
Dr. Ambey Kumar Srivastava
Senior Specialist- Learning & Impact
Dr. Ambey Kumar Srivastava is a development professional in public health, having more than 20 years’ experience in research, monitoring, evaluation and documentation. He has extensively worked in implementation, research and technical support projects on health and
HIV/AIDS. He has extensive knowledge of conducting qualitative and quantitative research with vulnerable communities. Dr. Srivastava has published many research articles in international and national peer reviewed journals on Health, innovations, data quality, gender, HIV/AIDS, and other issues in social development.
Prashant Ghiya
Manager – Finance & Accounts
Prashant Ghiya is a highly analytical, deadline-driven Finance and Accounts professional with more than 15 years of experience. He completes all financial reports and accounting activities with accuracy and speed. He has done MBA in Finance. His key strengths are
ability to multi-task and meet deadlines; attention to details and high level of accuracy. He analyzes monthly and quarterly financial statements, performs budget forecasts, and consistently works on cost reductions. He has good control on administrative and logistic work, and he is able to handle and guard confidential information sensitively.
Dr. Anil Kumar Jain
Manager – Operations, TSU Baran
Dr. Anil Kumar Jain is a qualified professional with over 15 years of experience in working in the health and education sectors. His work profile ranges from strategic and policy-level leadership, advisory, and management experience with strong analytical and conceptual skills to proven ability in
the development of programs and processes involving a diverse and complex range of partners and stakeholders. At LEHS|WISH, he is Manager Operations at TSU, Baran. He provides technical support to the HWC program implemented in district Baran, Rajasthan.
Dr. Rajan Kumar Gupt
Manager – Learning & Impact
Rajan holds an M.Phil and Ph.D. in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai. With 9 years of experience in the public health sector, he has focused on various areas including primary health care, labour room strengthening, technical support units, nutrition, maternal and child health, reproductive health, and family planning.
He has actively engaged in both quantitative and qualitative social science research, conducting assessments at the study, community, and facility levels. Additionally, he has expertise in large-scale data analysis, developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and working on projects such as e-Sanjeevani, Telemedicine, and Transform Health. He has also presented papers at national and international conferences and has published eleven scientific articles, including publications in EPW, BMC Public Health Research, and the International Journal of Medical and Biomedical Studies.
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At WISH, he contributes to the organization’s branding and visibility, generates evidence through data analysis, ensures data quality in projects related to labor room strengthening, National Quality Assurance (NQAS), and Transform Health. He also provides technical support to the government. As part of cross-learning initiatives, he has supported the Assam team in real-time data analysis and ensuring the quality of data for COVID immunization.
Heikrujam Nongyai Nongdrenkhomba
State Program and Technical Head
Mr. Nongyai holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology, and has over eighteen years of work experience in the development sector at the state and national levels. His domain expertise lies in Public Health; and other areas of interest and experience include Livelihood, Good Governance,
Gender, Social Inclusion, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and Community Participation.
During his eighteen years of career, he has worked with various renowned organizations, such as JSI, Cairn Oil & Gas-Vedanta Ltd., SAATHII, ACTED, National Health Systems Resource Centre, Plan International-India Chapter, Clinton Health Access Initiative, and so on.
He has hands on skills in managing large projects, and leading teams, strategic program planning, management (including partnership and donor management), providing technical support to NHM/Ministry of Health; building capacities of various stakeholders; conducting assessments, programmatic risk and security risk assessment; and program and budget management/tracking.
He is currently heading LEHS|WISH’s interventions in the State of Assam as the State Program and Technical Head where his main role focuses on leading & building the entire team, stakeholder coordination including government departments, development partners, donors as well as operational planning, strategy designing and its execution.
Diganta Sarma
Senior Manager- Programs
Diganta Sarma has fifteen years of work experience in the public health sector where his main role included liaisoning and coordination with various stakeholders including government functionaries; and providing technical support to National Health Mission, Assam, in program designing and
implementation, monitoring and supervision, etc.
Diganta graduated in Microbiology from Bangalore University in 2000, and completed his Master’s in Anthropology from the University of Pune in 2003.
His current role at WISH involves coordination and advocacy with different stakeholders, other development partners and government functionaries for implementation of WISH programs, monitoring and supervision.
Dipannita Kaushik
Sr. Manager – Urban
Dr. Dipannita Kaushik, a native of Guwahati, Assam, completed her MBBS in 2015 from MUHS, Nashik, Maharashtra. She worked as a Clinician for two years in Guwahati in Internal Medicine, OBGY and Emergency department. As she was more interested in planning and implementation at scale, advocacy, capacity building, grant
management, community mobilization, project management, M&E, communication, documentation, networking and p
understanding people and their stories, she decided to switch career, and pursued Master’s in Public Health from IIPH Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
After completing her studies, she started freelancing for a Start-up working in the digital health domain. Thereafter, she joined UNDP as the state lead for eVIN and COWIN in West Bengal. Her role at UNDP focused on liaisoning with the state government, and advocating for the digitalization of the immunization program. She led a team of twenty-six people, and implemented both the projects from scratch. She was also the National Resource Person for eVIN project implementation in Sikkim, and State Nodal Officer for COWIN project in West Bengal. She was a member of the State’s Advisory Committee that took policy decisions for Covid19 vaccination program; and member of the State Steering Committee and State Task Force for Covid19 vaccination program. She was the State Trainer of West Bengal government for Cold Chain Handler’s State ToT.
Debabrata Saha
Manager at State Health Innovation Unit (SHIU),Assam
Debabrata is a development consulting professional with 7+ years of working experience of managing social purpose programs, project implementation, impact measurement, strategic government partnerships with a formal development management training and aspirations to bring measurable impact at scale.
He completed his PGP in Development Management & Leadership from Indian School of Development Management.
He was part of SEWA Bharat before joining LEHS|WISH, and he has also worked with UC Berkeley, Piramal Foundation, and Intex Technologies. He is currently working at LEHS|WISH as Manager – State Health Innovation Unit (SHIU), Assam to strengthen the health ecosystem of Assam by leveraging the opportunities of emerging health-tech innovation landscape.
Dr. Swaroop Pattanayak
Innovation Specialist, Assam
Swaroop is a Public Health professional with over 9 years of progressive experience in same domain. He has done his post-graduation in hospital and health management from IIHMR, New Delhi. Prior to joining LEHS|WISH, he was associated with he was associated with UNICEF and previously worked in Care India.
He has contributed towards Healthcare IT and his key skills include –Data Analysis, Gap Analysis, Planning, Budgeting, Execution of plans, Policy Implementation, Capacity Building and Supply Chain Management etc.
Swaroop belongs to Cuttack, Orissa. He likes watching movies, sports channel & web series.
Apurba Kumar Das
Sr. Manager – SBCC
Mr. Apurba Kumar Das is Bachelor in Pharmacy from Rajeev Gandhi University of Health Sciences, PGDPM (Post Graduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Management – internship with Six Sigma at Tata Motors Jamshedpur) from Institute of Clinical Research India, MSc. In Clinical Research from Institute of Clinical Research India-Delhi, Master in Public Health from Open Global University-Nagaland.
He has more than 14 years of experience including Quality Control at Ozone Pharmaceuticals, As Technical Data Associate at MoHFW (CDSCO), As Clinical Research Associate under Max Halthcare Pvt. Ltd., As public health professional in the Village Health Outreach Program of Piramal Swaysthya etc.
In his sparing time he likes to go with Sports (Kickboxing), Social works & travelling. he is also associated with “Kreeda Bharti” and WAKO India Kickboxing Federation. In the year 2021-2022 he has been awarded as “Arohan Community Coordinator” which is a state level reward by Arohan Artist Guild a state level organization of Assam.
Kamakshi Balasubramanian
Project Manager (Urban Health), Mumbai
Kamakshi is a development professional having experience of 3+ years in urban primary healthcare. I have done my graduation in Engineering in the field of Electronics and Telecommunication from University of Mumbai. As with most engineers my age, it is during engineering that I gave a serious thought to my career path and discovered my interest in the social impact sector.
She prepared for the civil services examination for a couple of years and it had a profound impact on my personality and world view. Convinced that working with the government would maximise the scope for development, I started my internship with the Government of Delhi. I joined LEHS|WISH as a Consultant (Policy Associate) in 2019 and was placed in the Office of Minister of Health to work on the Mohalla Clinics project. Progressing gradually to being a Project manager, I am now working with the BMC on its Primary healthcare project called HBT Clinics.
She is an empath and consider compassion as one of the most cherished values. I enjoy travelling (especially to the mountains), trying local cuisines, going on treks, listening to music and reading books.
Dr. Madhur Nivrutti Raimule
Specialist- Technical & NCD, Mumbai
In the field of public health, Dr. Madhur Nivrutti Raimule Specialist- Technical & NCD has more than 8 years of progressively expanding expertise. He received his MD from the Department of Community Medicine at the Dr. D Y Patil Medical College in Pune, as well as his MBBS and Bachelor of Medicine in Medicine from Maharashtra University.
He formerly worked in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Jhpiego, and Mamta Medical College, Telangana, and was affiliated with WHO before joining LEHS|WISH.
His primary competencies include technical report writing, immunization analysis, program trainings, capacity building and data visualization, etc. He has contributed to program advocacy.
Ms. Koyeli Bhattacharjee
Manager-Data, Mumbai
Koyeli is a Public Health professional with over 15 years of progressive experience in the public health domain. She has done her Masters in Population studies from IIPS and is currently pursuing PHD in Public Health from TATA Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Prior to joining LEHS|WISH she was associated with CEHAT, Mumbai and previously worked with Family Planning Association of India and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
She has contributed towards Program Implementation and her key skills include- Research, Monitoring & Evaluation, developing proposals, budgets etc.
Koyeli belongs to Jamshedpur and is residing in Mumbai since many years. She likes learning music & travelling.
Chandrashekhar
Specialist-Learning & Impact, Mumbai
Chandrashekhar is a Learning & Impact professional with over 8+ years of progressive experience. He has done his M.Phil from IIPS, Mumbai and perusing PHD from International Institute of Populations Sciences, Mumbai.
Prior to joining LEHS|WISH, he was associated with American India Foundation and previously worked in MAMTA, Evidence Action India and Global Adult Tobacco Survey.
He has contributed towards Learning, Evaluation & Impact and his key skills include- Data Analysis, Data visualization, Capacity building, Data Quality Management and Conceptualization.
Chandrashekhar belongs to Patna, Bihar and now settled in Mumbai. He is married and has a lovely son. To unwind, he likes spending time with kids.