There are seven honorary members on the Governing Board of KABIL, all of whom function in their personal capacities. The Director of KABIL, the eighth member, acts as the ex-officio secretary to the Governing Board. Following is a short introduction of the members of the Governing Board.

M Biswanath Sinha Mr. (Chairperson)

M Biswanath Sinha is a social development specialist with over 27 years of diverse experience across strategy, partnership, grant making, program designing and scaling up, and policy formulation. Since July 2022 he has been working as the Director, Policy and Technical Support of WaterAid India. Before that he worked in Tata Trusts, Mumbai as Assistant Director in grant making to NGOs for 17 years. Prior to Tata Trusts he worked in Sa-Dhan for 1 year; Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD), and PRADAN for 5 years each. He did B. Tech in Engineering from Orisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT).

Biswajit Sen Mr. (Vice-Chairperson)

Biswajit Sen did his post-graduation in Rural Development at Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS), Ranchi. He worked in Damodar Vally Corporation (DVC) for 29 years and retired as Senior Joint Secretary (Development). He was In-charge of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing of DVC. Prior to joining DVC, he worked with Lutheran World Services (LWS), an international NGO working with the disadvantaged in rural areas to promote livelihoods.

Asif Zaidi Mr. (Member)

Asif Zaidi is currently the Managing Trustee and CEO of Sir Syed Trust (SST), a not for profit organization involved in livelihood promotion based on natural resource management, organizing women around savings and credit for empowerment and education over decades. He also worked with PRADAN and was a Programme Director for its operation in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. He is an expert in the management of natural resources, horticulture, rainwater harvesting and farm-based livelihood promotion. Asif holds a Master’s degree in Geology from Aligarh Muslim University.

Smita Rawat Ms. (Member)

Smita Rawat is a former Executive Director of the Indian Railway Board. She worked with Indian Railways for more than three decades before her retirement from service. In the course of various assignments, she had had vast exposure to policymaking and implementation of policies in Indian Railways. She holds an M Phil in English Literature from Delhi University and a Master’s in Professional Studies in International Development from Cornell University.

Narendranath Damodaran (Member):

Narendranath Damodaran is a Development Professional with 35 years of experience in rural development especially in projects around livelihoods promotions and women’s empowerment. His work in PRADAN paved the way for the emergence of the Self-Help-Group movement in Eastern India. He organised rural women in SHGs on large-scale and implemented livelihood programmes. He set up the National Resource Centre for Livelihoods in PRADAN for influencing the development initiatives of the Government such as the NRLM and MGNREGA, and facilitate policy dialoguing.

He served as the Executive Director of PRADAN from 2017 to 2022. He retired from PRADAN in 2024. He did B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Kerala University, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM) from IRMA.

Thomas Mathews Mr. (Treasurer)

Thomas Mathews worked with PRADAN for more than three decades and headed its Finance and Accounts Unit. He has extensive experience in accounting for NGOs, Income Tax and related compliances. He has also expertise in FCRA compliances as well as registration of development organizations in charity format. Thomas holds a Master’s degree in Commerce from the University of Kerala.

Sarat Chandra Das Mr. (Member)

Sarat Chandra Das is a social entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in diverse fields – development sector, banking, micro-finance, and business management. He has done his graduation in Agricultural Science (B.F.Sc) from Assam Agricultural University and Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development (PGDRD). Sri Sarat Chandra Das is the founder of the NGO Grameen Sahara in Assam. Grameen Sahara works to promote livelihoods of the disadvantaged in rural areas, particularly of the women, tribal and marginalised.

Achintya Kumar Ghosh Mr. (Ex-Officio)