Gargi Banerji

Chair

Gargi Banerji is a founding member of Pragya. A post-graduate in Business Administration, she has worked as a management consultant and has wide experience of consulting with industrial houses and multi-national corporations. Ms. Banerji co-founded Pragya in 1995 and presently serves as an Executive Member of the Board of Trustees (Hon.). Through her decisions and actions, she has been shaping the organization into a development institution of repute. Under her leadership, Pragya has made significant contributions to improving lives of disadvantaged communities and conserving fragile ecologies. For her exemplary work on the conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants, she has been awarded the 'Whitley Award for International Nature Conservation'. She is a recipient of the 'MSDS Award' for Social Entrepreneurs and has also received recognition for her work by National HRD Network of India. Ms. Banerji is actively engaged in research and advocacy on development issues. She has authored several papers and publications on diverse development themes, including poverty alleviation, conservation and green development, women’s empowerment, disaster management, served as guest editor on international journals of repute and as speaker at international fora, and contributed frequently to various UN consultations. She is also on the Board of two networks for development issues in India.

 

Arasan Aruliah

Trustee

Arasan Aruliah is a specialist Sales Director/Consultant in London. He works for companies with new and complex products and services, to uncover new markets, and for small/medium businesses that need to acquire new large business/public sector customers. His recent clients operate in the software, consultancy, funds management, media and training sectors. In the 1990s, Mr. Aruliah worked as a News and Current Affairs producer for BBC World Service, including a four-year stint in India. He continues to be a journalist as well, having contributed to The Guardian, and is currently the editor of Energy Post (world energy news, aimed at government, policy-makers, business, influencers, strategic thinkers). In the development space, he advises charities on best practice employment procedures, designed specifically for the international development sector.

 

Pratap Rughani

Trustee

Pratap Rughani is an award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker and academic. He has over 30 films for British television (BBC TV & Channel4, UK) and has written for several newspapers (The Independent & The Times, London). His work ranges from investigative social stories to environmental themes. He has extensive experience of working in developing countries (South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa) and has keen interest in developmental issues. Apart from working on various documentation and filming projects, Dr. Rughani is Associate Dean of Research and Course Director for Documentary Film at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London (UAL). He has been working at the university to promote cross-cultural exchange through teaching, research and documentary film practice. He presents and writes widely on documentary practice, ethics and roles, relationship between film, philosophy and the evolution of post-colonial thought. Dr. Rughani has been instrumental in Pragya UK’s collaborations with key partners like The Karuna Trust, which has led to development and implementation of several large-scale projects in the Indian Himalayas.

 

Arun Kumar

Development Manager, UK

Arun Kumar, with over two decades of experience, collaborates extensively with local and international organisations. His work focuses on the development of programmes, networks, and stronger civil society organisations, addressing issues like poverty, marginalisation, and civic rights. Arun is passionate about driving social change, scaling projects, and writing on subalternity, labour precarity, migration, climate justice, and challenges in the social development space with an intersectional lens. He holds a PhD degree in Sociology from the State University of New York, Binghamton, and an M.A. in Modern Indian History from Delhi University.

 

James Gibson

Development Officer, UK

James has worked as an English Language Teacher and programme developer for an NGO in the Tolima region of Colombia, and as a language consultant for a renewable energy company in Madrid, Spain. He holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Bristol, and an MA in Education and International Development: Conflict, Emergencies, and Peace from University College London (UCL). Prior to joining Pragya, he contributed to an academic research collaboration between UCL, FCDO, and the Indonesian Energy Ministry, highlighting barriers to renewable technology adoption in rural and agricultural parts of Sumba, Indonesia.