Our Leaders

Hrishikesh Mafatlal

Mr. Hrishikesh Mafatlal is the Chairman and member of the board of directors of Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust. He is also the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Arvind Mafatlal Group of Companies (AMG). Mr. Mafatlal has an Honors Degree in Commerce, (1975) from the Sydenham College, Mumbai. In 1993, he attended the Advanced Management Programme (AMP) at the Harvard Business School, USA. He is a past President and now a Managing Committee Member of The Mill-owners' Association, Mumbai (MOA). He is a Governing Council Member of the N. L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies Research. He was a Member of the Board of Governors of IIMAhmedabad for 12 years (1995 - 2007), and a Vice Chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL). He is a Trustee of Shri Sadguru Seva Sangh Trust and BAIF Development Research Foundation.

Sanat Kumar Das

Director for Rural Development

Sanat Kumar Das is a lawyer by profession and has a strong yearning for promoting traditional organic farming. For over a decade now he has been working with farmers across Maharashtra inspiring them toward agriculture. He has also been instrumental in implementing projects in water resource development, rural education, and women empowerment. Under his leadership, we were awarded the most prestigious Krishi Bhushan Award 2017 by the Govt. of Maharashtra’s Ministry of Agriculture.

Ajay Sankhe

Director - Bhakti Vedanta Hospital

Dr. Ajay Sankhe, M.D., Paediatrics, is the Director & CEO of Bhaktivedanta Hospital and Research Institute which is the Healthcare arm of the Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust. He is one of the founding members of the hospital and has an experience of over 33 years. He is renowned as a well-known Pediatrician in the North region of Mumbai, Thane & Palghar districts and is associated with Bhaktivedanta Hospital since its inception. Under his stewardship, what started off as a small 10-bed Nursing Home in 1993 has expanded to 11 Healthcare Satellite Centers in the interiors of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. More than 17+ lakh needy patients have been served over the years. During the recent COVID-19 Pandemic, he played a major role in Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation has been instrumental in setting up Tembha Hospital and Dedicated COVID Hospital. More than 9000+ COVID patients have benefited so far. He actively promotes ethics and spiritual health through various forums like Global Foundation for Ethics & Spiritual Health(GFESH). Under his able leadership, Bhaktivedanta Hospital has won several awards.

Gauranga Das

President

Gauranga Das holds a bachelor’s degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. He has been in the field of social impact for the last two decades. Since 2010 he has focused on developing rural India by creating a prototype of an ideal village at Govardhan Ecovillage. He is the Director of Govardhan Ecovillage and regularly participates in many environmental initiatives at the United Nations.

Mr. Kushal N. Desai

Kushal Desai is currently Managing Director of Apar Industries Ltd. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Moore School of Electrical Engineering and a Business degree from the Wharton School, both of which are part of University of Pennsylvania.

Kushal Desai is on the Board of Governors of both Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad and DDMM Heart Hospital, Nadiad (Gujarat), which are charitable institutions in the field of Education and Healthcare. He sits on the Board of Trustees of The Lady Northcote Hindu Orphanage and is an Advisor to Midday Meal Program “Annamrita” which caters daily Lunch to over 1.6 million under-privileged children in Govt. schools in India.

Mrs. Maithili Desai

The daughter of a great businessman and philanthropist Shri Arvind Mafatlal, she shares her father's passion for social causes. In spite of her advanced age, she has a contagious enthusiasm for the welfare of the underprivileged. She has single-handedly worked to develop a 60000 sq. ft of a skill development center in Wada taluka of Palghar Dist.

Our Team

Mukund Dhanawade

Mukund Dhanawade is a Master in Chemistry, and holds a B.Sc. in Horticulture along with Diploma in Agriculture. He has 15 years of hands-on experience in Organic Farming and has been instrumental in compiling a book on “Best Practices in Organic Farming” which is recognized by the Agriculture department of the Government of Maharashtra. Since 2014 he dedicated his life to the welfare of the rural community. He heads the operations of the Govardhan Rural Development Programme. Through a culture of perseverance and kindness, he has reached many villages and has expedited the program with his leadership.

Shilpa Sondkar

Shilpa Ji has over a decade of experience for working with corporates like TCS and IBM as a subject Matter Expert. In her zeal to serve society, she took up Master in Psychology after which she came to rural Palghar where she met the Rural Education team of Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust. She immediately pounced on the opportunity and took serious responsibilities in the rural education department. Now she leads the level-based community education program for tribal kids called Vidyavaan. Wherein she is working to improve the educational experience of the kids in English, Mathematics, Logical Reasoning, and Marathi.

Madhav Murari Das

Madhav Murari Das is B.E. (Production Engineering) and has worked for 5.5 years in Materials Sourcing and MechanicalDesign experience in Larsen & Toubro Ltd. But he found his deep purpose and meaning with the rural population in Palghar and since 2017 he has been offering various services at Sri Chaitanya Seva trust ranging from administration, implementing digital data collection, capacity building for Women Empowerment, organic farming training for farmers, government linkage for villagers of Palghar dist. etc. Currently, he is working toward developing marketing linkage for farmers.

Nitaicaitanya Das

Nitai Chaitanya Das graduated with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Kohlapur's Shivaji University. He also received the University's top student award during his time at the University. He went on to the Homi Bhabha National Institute to get his master's in nuclear science. He published a journal titled ‘Identification and modeling of different electromagnetic interference sources in typical nuclear reactor’. After a short stint as a software engineer with HSBC Global Technology, he spent 4.5 years as a scientific officer at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center. Since 2014, he has dedicated his life to educating rural kids in Galtare, Wada, and Palghar, sharing his time and experience with all while reaching out to local villagers, children, and schools, among others, through the rural education program.

Hemarup Caitanya Das

Hemarupa Caitanya Das was born and brought up in Malaysia. His family is originally from Kerala, India. He has a Master's degree in Electrical Power Engineering from the University of Tenaga National. Later, he worked as a lecturer there before moving to India in 2012, on yearly basis. By nature, he loves languages, cultures, and traditional arts. By trait, he is a writer, public speaker, and debater - both styles of British Parliamentary and Austral Asians. In recent times, he has decided to serve society by providing anti-addiction advice, moral education, and social services. Currently, he serves with Rural Education Program and reaches out to local villagers, kids, schools, etc. through the rural education program benefitting tribal schools in Wada, Vikramgad, Jawhar, and Mokhada.

JaduThakur Das

Jaduthakur Das is a software engineer by profession and has worked in the IT industry for about 3.5 years. In 2010 he decided to dedicate his life to the welfare of Rural India and came to Palghar district at Govardhan Ecovillage. Since 2018 he has been associated with the Rural Development department and leads the strategy and communications aspect of the rural development team.