Dr. Jayanta Choudhury, India
Founder & Secretary General
Dr. Jayanta Choudhury has wide experience in teaching and research in Rural Development for the last 22 yrs. Passionate, relentless, dedicated and true with his vision firmly focused on the horizon of Localising Sustainable Development Goal.
Dr. Choudhury presently working as Assistant Professor, Department of Rural Studies, Tripura University, India. He was Associate Professor (on Deputation), National Institute of Rural Development &Panchayati Raj, North East Regional Centre, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India for three years.
He is the author of 25 books and more than 55 research articles published in National and International journals and in edited volumes. Six Ph.D. Scholars awared under his supervision.
He has led/worked with different research projects in India and Bangladesh funded by World Bank, ILO, UNICEF, IGDC, GTZ, MoTA, MoRD, etc.
He is also the Founder of the North East Training, Research and Advocacy (NETRA) Foundation and the Global Forum for Sustainable Rural Development (GFSRD) – an orgnisation having 6 continetal offices and 129 country chapters. .
He is recognized as Expert, Inclusive Policy Lab, UNESCO. He is an active member of various Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) like IFRTD, London; Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), Switzerland; Community of Evaluators, SriLanka.
He is also a board member of Forum for India Development Cooperation (FIDC), Research and Information System for Developing Countries, New Delhi; Financial Inclusion Trust (2009-2019), North Eastern Financial Inclusion Trust (2019 onward) (under the aegis of Bandhan Bank, India), Bandhan Financial Holding Company, West Bengal. Global Peace Let’s Talk, London, etc.
He did his Ph.D. and Masters in Rural Development from Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal. He teaches Inclusive Rural development; Rural Development Planning & Project Management; Financial Inclusion; Social Enterprises to PG students.
He serves as Associate Editor for International Journal of Rural Development & Management Studies (IJRDMS) and TUI – A journal on Tribal Life and Culture. He has led various internationally funded development projects in India and Bangladesh. Received Global Award (Best Professor in Rural Development) from World Education Congress-2015 and Broad Outlook Learner Teacher (BOLT) Award-2006 from AIR INDIA, Mumbai.