Board of Trustees

Ms S Kamala
Chairperson

A lawyer by profession Ms Kamala also holds a post-graduate degree in History and has vast experience in active court practice and wide exposure in areas of civil law in general and property law in particular. She gives legal consultancy to individuals, institutions and a few corporates.

Mr Darshan Shankar
Trustee
Darshan Shankar started his professional career in 1973 at the University of Bombay as the coordinator of an Inter-disciplinary Center for Development Research. At this Center, he conceived, designed and implemented a pioneering action-research programme, which provided graduates of any discipline a 2-year fellowship to live in a rural community and apply their formal learning to a real-life situation. This programme won a “Commonwealth Award” in 1976 being adjudged as the best project in the Commonwealth for linking university education to community needs. Between 1980 and 1992 he lived and worked in a tribal area in Maharashtra.

In 1993, he founded the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions. In 1998, he was awarded “Norman Borlaug Award” for his contributions to promoting conservation of medicinal plants, and in 2002, FRLHT was awarded the “Equator Initiative Prize” by the United Nations. In 2003, the Columbia University’s Centre for Complementary & Alternative Medicines gave its first International Award to Darshan Shankar & FRLHT, in recognition of FRLHT’s outstanding contributions to revitalization of traditional systems of health-care in India.

Mr DS Ramakrishna Rao
Trustee

Mr DS Ramakrishna Rao is a distinguished Architect who is practising and also involved in teaching.

He completed his Bachelors Degree in Architecture in Chandigarh and his Master of Architecture Degree from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.  He has rich teaching experience having taught at Ohio State University, Anna University, Caledonian College of Engineering at Oman and also at the School of Design at the University of Mysore.   He has experience with environmental and Eco projects in various locations. He has presented technical papers at various National and International seminars and conferences.  He is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects and an Associate Member of Indian Institute of Interior Designers.  He has over 30 years of experience in the Sultanate of Oman, United States of America and India.  He has handled a variety of projects ranging from Institutional campuses, Industrial Complexes, Residential Township and Single Family Villas.   He has been the winner of – “OMAN GREEN CHAMPION” Award for 2012 and also the Best Teacher Award of Indian Institute of Architects in 2013.

Currently, he is the principal architect and interior designer in Desirazu Associates at Mysore.

Mr AV Balasubramanian
Trustee
AV Balasubramanian obtained his M.Sc degree in Chemistry from Bangalore University and did a Post M.Sc., diploma in Molecular Biophysics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Later he studied Physiology and Biophysics at the State University of New York at Stonybrook. Since 1982 he has been involved in work relating to various aspects of Traditional Indian Sciences and Technologies and trying to explore their current relevance and potential. In 1995 he founded the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, (CIKS) an institution devoted to exploring the contemporary relevance and applications of Indian Knowledge Systems, particularly in the area of sustainable agriculture.
In CIKS he has been involved in the production of educational and training material on various aspects of Sustainable Agriculture as well as research on this topic drawing upon indigenous knowledge, wisdom and practices. More recently he has also been involved in helping farmers to set up a large number of Producer Companies through which various activities relating to the production and marketing of organic produce are carried out as well as services for farmers are offered. He has been a member of several committees of the Government of India (Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Human Resources Development) as well as on the Editorial Board of several Magazines and Journals (such as the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine). Besides agriculture, he also has an active interest in other areas of Indian knowledge systems including – indigenous health and yoga as well as the epistemology of traditional knowledge systems. In February 2021, The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology (TDU), Bengaluru conferred honorary D.Litt. on him for his two-decade contribution to the revitalization of India’s medical heritage, particularly for pioneering works in the field of Vrkshayurveda, and in 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu for his contribution in the area of indigenous traditions of Sciences and Technologies.

He is one of the Founding Trustee of CIKS and currently Director of the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems.

Mr. Karthik Sundaram
Trustee

Mr. Karthik Sundaram is an advocate and Founder Counsel at Karthik Law Chambers, an independent litigation practice based out of Chennai, India. He obtained his BA LLB (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law) from Symbiosis Law College, Pune. He is on the Madras Tax Bar’s executive committee. He is also the author of the book “Tax, Constitution, and the Supreme Court.”

Vaidya Narendra Pendse
Trustee

Vaidya Narendra Pendse is an Ayurvedic Medical Practitioner. He graduated from Pune University with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Ayurveda. Since 2018, he has served as a senior medical advisor at the IAIM hospital in Yellhanka, Bangalore. He is an honorary consultant at Seth. Tarachand Ramnath Charitable Ayurvedic Hospital, Rasta Peth, Pune. From 1994 until 2018, he worked as a faculty for 24 years at the Tilak Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya in Pune. He received the Maharshi Annasaheb Patwardhan Pratishthan’s Best Teacher Award in 2008 and Rashtriya Shikshan Mandal’s – “Karyabhooshan Puraskaar” in 2014. In 2016, Shripad Seva Mandal awarded him the “Sadguru Shree Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Smruti VidnyanacharyaPuraskar”.

Mr.T.T.Hayagreevan
Trustee

Mr. Hayagreevan is an Executive Director – Finance and CFO at Turbo Energy Pvt Limited and a Director on the Board of a few other companies.  He obtained his Bachelor of Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai; He is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA, UK) and a Master of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School.  Though he is a finance professional by training, he has a keen interest in sustainable agriculture.

Dr. K. Vijayalakshmi
Dr. K. Vijayalakshmi was one of the founding trustees of CIKS. She did her under graduation in Zoology from Stella Maris College, obtained her M.Sc., Degree in Zoology from Delhi University and thereafter obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Madras. She worked on biological control of household pests using spider predators for her Doctorate.

Since 1985 she has been involved in work relating to various aspects of indigenous agriculture and trying to explore their current relevance and potential. Dr. Vijayalakshmi has served as a member of several academic committees both in India and abroad.

She has also coordinated and coordinates several projects related to rural development. She was also a member of the International TASK force of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) which was involved in the revision of principles of organic agriculture. The principles of organic agriculture that were revised by the Task force was accepted by the IFOAM General Assembly which was held in Adelaide, Australia in September 2005.

She has coordinated more than 50 projects relating to traditional agriculture and has also authored more than 75 publications. Besides this, she has also worked on five films on sustainable agriculture.

Currently, she is the Director of Sempulam Sustainable Solutions which is a social enterprise providing end to end solutions on sustainable organic agriculture. She stepped down from the board of CIKS in November 2014 when she founded Sempulam Sustainable Solutions.

Dr Daisy Dharmaraj
Dr Daisy Dharmaraj joined the board of CIKS as a Trustee in December 2008. She is a medical doctor who after completing her Doctorate in Community medicine from CMC Vellore has served among the tribals, dalits and fisher folk in Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh through PREPARE a national NGO which she directed for two decades. She has trained many grass root persons and middle-level NGO managers and staff in Primary health care, disaster preparedness, HIV AIDS and reproductive health, over the years and has prepared several many training materials in these areas. She has a special interest in advocacy concerning infant formula, pesticides, invasive contraceptives, aquaculture, gender concerns and in the rights of People living with HIV AIDS. She was a member of National Commission for women. She has been part of many national and international networks. She has traveled widely in Europe and Asia as a consultant and a network member.
TEST Foundation an NGO headed by Dr Daisy is involved in HIV AIDS prevention care and advocacy. She currently works as a health and development consultant and as a visiting professor in Community medicine in a medical college in Andhra Pradesh. She stepped down from the board of CIKS in October 2020.