Steering Committee

Vandhana Kandhari

Senior Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF India

Vandhana Kandhari

Senior Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF India

Vandhana Kandhari is a senior child protection specialist with UNICEF, India for the past 13 years. She is leading the work on children without parental care and prevention of family separation and child labour, unsafe migration. She has over three decades of experience as a Child Protection Professional and has worked for ten years with the NGO sector and with the government on design and implementation of programmes of Juvenile Justice, Alternative care and child labour.

Lena Dasgupta Basu

Program Manager, Child Protection, Children in Need Institute, Jharkhand

Lena Dasgupta Basu

Program Manager, Child Protection, Children in Need Institute, Jharkhand

Lena is a dynamic development sector professional, leading the Child Protection Portfolio in Child in Need Institute (CINI) India. She has experience of working on child protection and safeguarding of child rights for 22 years. She did her Masters in Sociology from Calcutta University and worked with CSOs, implementing projects on Cross Border Trafficking, Child Marriage, Child Labour etc in rural and urban parts of West Bengal. She served as Senior Programme Coordinator in Childline India Foundation (CIF) for sixteen years and worked in different states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and entire North Eastern states of India. Facilitating dialogue with the Government and CSOs, to consolidate the private-public- partnership and to deliver the service to children in the field was her main role in childline. She is a visiting faculty of many training institutes like Central Detective Training School, MDSTI-Kanchrapara etc. She has experience of working (2002-2029) as Radio Jockey of FM Rainbow and later in Maitree (A channel of India-Bangladesh) of All India Radio Kolkata.

Rajendra Meher

Chief Executive Officer, Youth Council for Development Alternatives (YCDA), Odisha

Rajendra Meher

Chief Executive Officer, Youth Council for Development Alternatives (YCDA), Odisha

Mr. Rajendra Meher is a seasoned social work professional with over 35 years of experience in advancing child rights, education, and social protection in India. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Council for Development Alternatives (YCDA), an organisation established in 1993 that has expanded its work across eight districts of Odisha in collaboration with government departments, corporate partners, and national and international foundations

Mr. Meher is widely respected for his leadership in child rights programming, with core expertise in education, alternative care, institutional care standards, and preventive child protection approaches. He has played a pivotal role in strengthening government systems and statutory mechanisms, including serving as a former Member of the Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board, and as Chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Odisha

In recent years, he has championed the integration of cross-cutting themes such as climate change resilience and WASH into child protection frameworks, recognising their critical importance for children from vulnerable and marginalised communities. Under his leadership, YCDA’s work has received recognition from diverse stakeholders for its impact and innovation in the social development sector

Sandhyaa Mishra

Senior Director – Government Partnerships & Strategic Alliances, Miracle Foundation India

Sandhyaa Mishra

Senior Director – Government Partnerships & Strategic Alliances, Miracle Foundation India

Sandhyaa Mishra is the Senior Director – Government Partnerships & Strategic Alliances at Miracle Foundation India, where she leads national and state-level engagement to strengthen child protection systems and advance family strengthening and family-based alternative care. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked extensively with children and youth in difficult circumstances, including children of prisoners, refugees, and children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

She works closely with government departments, multilateral agencies, and civil society partners to translate policy intent into effective implementation. Her expertise spans system strengthening, transition frameworks, capacity building, and evidence-informed policy influence across multiple states in India.

She is a Steering Group Member and part of the Core Group of the India Alternative Care Network (IACN), actively contributing to sector collaboration, knowledge building, and the amplification of family strengthening and family-based alternative care in India.

Sandhyaa holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work, a Diploma in Labour Laws, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights. Known for bridging policy, programs, and partnerships, she combines strategic thinking with grounded field experience and remains deeply committed to systemic change that ensures every child grows up in a safe, nurturing family environment.

Dr. Kiran Modi

Founder & Managing Trustee, Udayan Care, Delhi

Dr. Kiran Modi

Founder & Managing Trustee, Udayan Care, Delhi

Dr. Kiran Modi is the Founder, Managing Trustee of Udayan Care. She founded Udayan Care, in Delhi, India, in 1994, with the vision of ‘Making Young Lives Shine’. With a doctorate in American Literature from IIT, she has been in the development sector for the last 31 years.

Besides running programmes for Alternative Care of ‘Out of Home Care’ children, education and livelihood programmes for disadvantaged girls and youth, she is keenly interested in raising standards of care in Alternative Care. She has been organizing seminars and conferences at national and international levels on FS and FBAC, conducting trainings in partnership with states, undertaking research on related topics, and publishing papers on Child & Youth Care. She is also the Founder Editor of an international bi-annual journal on Alternative Care: ‘Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond’ (ICEB). Besides her management responsibilities, she is a “Mentor Mother” to many children and youth, giving them personalized care and attention.

A recipient of many accolades and awards, Dr. Modi continues to strive towards ensuring the rights of the underprivileged children and youth with the same passion and zeal as when she started out more than three decades ago.

Lina Kashyap

Retired Deputy Director (Pro Vice- Chancellor), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai

Lina Kashyap

Retired Deputy Director (Pro Vice- Chancellor), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai

Lina Kashyap - Professor (Mrs.) Lina D. Kashyap, Ph.D. retired as the Deputy Director (Pro-Vice Chancellor) from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in 2013. Post retirement, Prof. Kashyap was associated with the Institute as an Emeritus Professor of Social Work. She has a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. Degree in Social work from TISS.

After a decade of direct field experience as a professional social worker, Prof. Kashyap joined the Institute’s faculty in 1984. From 1994 to 2006, she has been the Head of the Department of Family and Child Welfare at the Institute.

Dr. Kashyap initiated the Centre for Disability Studies and Action in the School of Social Work at TISS and has been the Chairperson of the Centre from 2006 till 2008. From 2008 to 2013 she served as the Deputy Director (Pro-Vice Chancellor) of the Institute.

Prof. Kashyap has also led a team of teachers from TISS to develop an on line two years M.A. in Social Work in Child’s Rights for practitioners in the field who would like to upgrade their qualifications and skills of working with children using the rights framework. This program was also launched in September 2013.

For the last 30 years, she has been training professional social workers, paraprofessional workers and volunteers in the field of family and child welfare and disability Studies. She has taught courses related to social work practice with children, families and people with disabilities and Counselling: Theory and Practice. She has been instrumental in developing a Master’s Degree Program in Disability Studies and Action at TISS which has been recognized by the Research Council of India.

She has organized several state, national and international level conferences in the area of child and family practice and disability rehabilitation. Dr. Kashyap has undertaken research in the areas related to institutional and non-institutional services for children. She has been a team member on two large international research projects on children and youth, their problems and coping strategies. Dr. Kashyap has evaluated services for children under Government of India schemes. She has served on a number of international, national and state level committees in the areas of Child Welfare and Development, and Disability Rehabilitation, and was the Vice President of the International Association for Counselling for six years till April 2004.

She has been on the Advisory Committee of the Editorial Board of “The Indian Journal of Social Work”, the “International Journal for Advancement of Counselling” and “International Social Work” for a couple of years.

Her current interest is doing a deeper study of and practicing the principles of Chanakya’s Arthashastra and Indian Knowledge Systems. Her other interests are reading, travelling, and gardening.

Nilima Mehta

Child Protection Consultant, Mumbai

Nilima Mehta

Child Protection Consultant, Mumbai

Nilima Mehta - Nilima has done extensive work on child rights, child protection and family-based alternative care for over 40 years. She represented India at a consultation in Brazil for the development of Guidelines on Alternative Care for Children. She has been associated nationally and internationally for policy development, legislative reforms, training, and research and documentation in the space of child protection.

At the practice level, Nilima has been associated with several organizations like UNICEF, CRY, CHILDLINE, LEHER, VATSALYA, IAPA, and FSC. She has also been a member of the Juvenile Justice Act Review Committee.

Nilima was the first Chairperson of the CWC, Mumbai. As an academic, she has been a visiting professor at the CSW-NN, TISS, and SNDT and a chair professor at the TISS. Currently, she serves on the IQAC and Board of Studies of CSW-NN and the IRB and Academic Council of TISS.

Rita Panicker

Founder Director, Butterflies, Delhi

Rita Panicker

Founder Director, Butterflies, Delhi

Rita Panicker is the founder director of Butterflies, a registered voluntary organisation working with the most vulnerable groups of children, especially urban street connected and marginalised children and families since 1989. A Masters in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Masters in Development Studies from International Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands, Rita was a faculty member in the Women’s Studies Unit, at Tata Institute of Social Sciences before founding Butterflies. In 1990, UNICEF New York appointed her as Consultant to UNICEF Nigeria, to support the country office in developing the programme for Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (CEDC).

She has published several papers on child rights issues and authored studies on Children and Crime in India (2018); Sexuality and Masculinity, Boys Perspectives (2019); Children of Islands (2021). She also worked with the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India, to develop guidelines on Assessment, Selection & Monitoring Tool for Foster Care in India and a Reader on Raising Children to Resist Violence.

She was one of the founder members of Family for Every Child UK, a global alliance of local Civil Society Organisations and is currently a Trustee on its board. She was also a member of the Governing Board of CHILDLINE India Foundation, under the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India.

J. B. Oli

Head of Programms, Butterflies, Delhi

J. B. Oli

Head of Programms, Butterflies, Delhi

J.B. Oli, Head of Programms, Butterflies, New Delhi B. Oli is a development professional with over 20 years of experience in diverse roles and responsibilities. Currently he is Head of Programme at Butterflies since 2015. With experience and expertise in strategic planning, program development, policy promotion and alliance building, his career spans roles at the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, CHILDINE India Foundation, and India Alliance for Child Rights in the past, where he played diverse roles in promoting child protection, advocacy, and policy development.

Prabhta Kumar

Child Protection Consultant, Rajasthan

Prabhta Kumar

Child Protection Consultant, Rajasthan

Prabhta Kumar, Child Protection Consultant

Prabhat’s expertise lies in family strengthening, noninstitutional care, child protection workforce development, and adolescent empowerment. With over 20 years of experience, he has led national and international programs, advocating for child rights, gender-transformative initiatives, policy changes, and safeguarding protocols to ensure safer communities and system for children and vulnerable adults.

Radhika Alkazi

Founder and Managing Trustee, ASTHA, Delhi

Radhika Alkazi

Founder and Managing Trustee, ASTHA, Delhi

Radhika Alkazi, Founder and Managing Trustee, ASTHA - Radhika Mullick Alkazi is the founder and Managing Trustee of ASTHA a community-based NGO that works with children with disabilities and their families in the urban slums of Delhi for the last 30 years. Along with the work with children, Radhika has researched and written many reports on the status of children with disabilities, implementation of law and policy and contributed to reports on children with disabilities. She was part of the Advisory committee to the Asha Kiran Homes for two years and wrote a report on the functioning of these homes with recommendations which was submitted to the Supreme Court. Recently she has been awarded the Javed Abidi award for Public Policy as part of the NCPEDP Mphasis Universal design awards.

Feroz Ahmed

Chief Functionary, Human Welfare Voluntary Organization, Jammu and Kashmir

Feroz Ahmed

Chief Functionary, Human Welfare Voluntary Organization, Jammu and Kashmir

Feroz is a humanitarian program professional with more than 19 years of professional work experience. A certified PMD Pro level 1 professional (Project management for development professional), Feroz has worked with different non-governmental organizations. As the Chief Functionary Officer of HWVO, Feroze has led impactful initiatives over the past 5 years. HWVO, a non-profit, non-governmental and non-political organization, focuses on vital thematic areas, including child protection, gender equality, youth development, livelihood enhancement and environmental sustainability in UT of Jammu and Kashmir. Feroz has been critically acclaimed and felicitated for his work receiving many awards that include the third prize as Best NGO (Pulwama) for the outstanding performance under NASHA MUKT BHARAT by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India and Department of Social Welfare, Jammu and Kashmir, COVID-19 warrior award in recognition of outstanding performance to fight COVID-19 at district administration Baramulla, and outstanding performance in Post-earthquake relief by state of Jammu and Kashmir on behalf of COVA.

Jomey Joseph

Head, Catholic Relief Services, Chennai

Jomey Joseph

Head, Catholic Relief Services, Chennai

Jomey Joseph brings over 19 years of experience to her role as Head of the CRS office in Chennai, overseeing programs crucial for the well-being of families in South and Northeast India. These programs encompass child protection, fostering alternative family-based care for vulnerable children, supporting livelihoods, and ensuring communities are prepared for emergencies. Throughout her career, she has fostered strong relationships with local governments, churches, religious leaders, and civil society partners. Her dedication is evident in her leadership of various impactful programs supporting refugee in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and a project to combat human trafficking. Currently, Jomey champions CRS's global "Changing the Way We Care" initiative in India, promoting alternative care options for vulnerable children and keeping families together.

iacnsecretariat@iacn.in

Steering Committee

Steering Committee

Vandhana Kandhari

Lena Dasgupta Basu

Rajendra Meher

Sandhyaa Mishra

Dr. Kiran Modi

Lina Kashyap

Nilima Mehta

Rita Panicker

J. B. Oli

Prabhta Kumar

Radhika Alkazi

Feroz Ahmed

Jomey Joseph

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National Coordinator, India Alternative Care Network (IACN) Secretariat, C/o Butterflies 163/4, Pradhan Wali Gali, Village Jaunapur, New Delhi - 110047

iacnsecretariat@iacn.in