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Session of Friday, 18 September 2026
Social protection and entitlements
Social Audits: A Pursuit for Participatory Democracy
Sowmya Kidambi
Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Social Work and Research Centre (Barefoot College)
In this lecture, Sowmya Kidambi traces the evolution of social audits from a grassroots, people-led practice to a statutory mechanism for participatory governance in India. Drawing on her extensive experience, she explains how social audits enable citizens to verify public spending and service delivery, while highlighting the importance of community participation, institutional independence, transparency, and government accountability for the process to remain effective.
25 Sep 2026
Health and nutrition
Mr. Rajeev Sadanandan (IAS Retd.)
Former Additional Chief Secretary (Health & Family Welfare), Government of Kerala, and former CEO of the Health Systems Transformation Platform (HSTP)
Mr Rajeev Sadanandan examines the role of street-level bureaucrats and communities in shaping public health programmes, highlighting the gap between policy design and implementation on the ground. He argues for meaningful community participation, greater discretion for frontline workers, and a shift from activity-based monitoring towards outcomes to ensure that programmes reach the most marginalised.
11 Sep 2026
Education
Dr Rukmini Banerji
Senior Advisor to Pratham Education Foundation and its former CEO
In this lecture, Dr Rukmini Banerji examines India’s foundational learning journey under NEP 2020, highlighting progress in early childhood education and foundational literacy and numeracy, alongside persistent learning gaps in middle school. Drawing on ASER, NIPUN Bharat and PARAKH data, she explores Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) as an approach to improving learning outcomes and discusses key priorities for strengthening early childhood education, inclusive learning and education system implementation.
4 Sep 2026
Social protection and entitlements
Mr Nikhil Dey
Social Activist and Founding Member, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
The session with Mr. Nikhil Dey explored how grievance redressal systems can be designed to be truly citizen-centric, responsive and accountable. Drawing on the RTI movement and grassroots experiences, the discussion highlighted social audits, institutional accountability, accessible processes and the need to ensure that technology does not exclude citizens from accessing their rights.
28 Aug 2026
Public policy and public systems
Mr. Anil Swarup (Retd. IAS)
Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Government of India
The inaugural LIST lecture by Mr. Anil Swarup (Retd. IAS) explored how good ideas can be translated into effective action by understanding the political, social, administrative and institutional context in which they operate. Drawing on his experience in public service, he highlighted the importance of building trust, communicating effectively and creating the conditions necessary for ideas to succeed.
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