Introduction
Desh is presently working with NITI Aayog as a policy specialist in governance & research and law since September 2017. He has a comprehensive understanding of governance, policy initiatives and their implications, along with current affairs. He has been involved with a diverse range of projects including - Reform of Autonomous Bodies, Transformation of the Gold Sector, differential voting rights and control mechanisms, Direct Benefit Transfers in Fertilizers, data localization, data privacy, the Millets report, and others. He is actively involved with analyzing research studies across different verticals, and is a core member of the Knowledge Hub Portal initiative for best practices at the district level. With a strong grasp on the policy agenda and communications, he has also been tasked to drive events and conferences.
Desh leads the legal department within NITI and regularly works on measuring economic impacts and outcomes and benchmarks of legal and judicial decisions both in India and globally.
Desh is a dual-qualified lawyer (New York and India) and has practiced for nearly a decade in various areas of law, with a large portion of that time spent at J. Sagar Associates (2009-2016). He is a frequent columnist, invited to share his domain knowledge and opinions on subject matters ranging from policy, governance, law, and sport, by various publications such as the Economic Times, Business Standard, The Hindu, Indian Express, Hindu Business Line, Financial Express, Hindustan Times, Outlook, Forbes India, and India Today among others. He is the author of ‘Not Out! The incredible story of the Indian Premier League’, an objective look at the policy implications, strategy, business model and law of the IPL. The book was published by Penguin Random House in April 2016. He has commenced work on two books, one slated for publication in 2020 by Oxford University Press, and the other slated for publication in 2022.
Expert
Desh is a dual-qualified lawyer (New York and India) and has practiced for nearly a decade in various areas of law, with a large portion of that time spent at J. Sagar Associates (2009-2016). Desh is presently working with NITI Aayog as a policy specialist in governance & research and law since September 2017. He has a comprehensive understanding of governance, policy initiatives and their implications, along with current affairs. He is a frequent columnist, invited to share his domain knowledge and opinions on subject matters ranging from policy, governance, law, and sport, by various publications such as the Economic Times, Business Standard, The Hindu, Indian Express, Hindu Business Line, Financial Express, Hindustan Times, Outlook, Forbes India, and India Today among others. He is the author of ‘Not Out! The incredible story of the Indian Premier League’, an objective look at the policy implications, strategy, business model and law of the IPL.
Fields of expertise: e-Transformation / e-Governance, Science policy, technology and innovation policy