Board of Directors

Board of Directors:

VIF is supported by following visionaries and eminent leaders

Mr Kantipudi Padmanabhaiah 

Born on 6th Oct 1938 in a village in Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, after initial education, He obtained a Masters degree in Science from Andhra University, and a Masters degree in Financial Management, from the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai. He joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1961 and was allotted to the Maharashtra cadre.

He served Government of Maharashtra in a variety of important positions like Director of Sugar Co-operatives; District Collector, Nashik: Principal Secretary, Planning; Principal Secretary, Finance; and Municipal Commissioner of Greater Bombay (now Mumbai). His tenure as Director of Sugar Co-Operatives(1970-74) saw the most spectacular growth of Sugar Industry in the State due to his rapport and close working with the leadership in the Co-operative movement, and received national and international recognition. He was invited by various State Governments, including Government of Andhra Pradesh to advise them on development of co-operative sugar factories.

During his tenure, Nashik district(1975-77) was adjudged as one of the best districts in the country in performance of the 20-point program of Prime Minister, Late. Smt. Indira Gandhi and his work was extensively covered by the National press. His performance as Municipal Commissioner, Greater Bombay (1990-91) received wide acclaim in the press and public, and he was awarded the prestigious Gaints International’s Award for excellence in Civic Administration (1991). He served Government of India as Joint Secretary, Petroleum(1982-84); Joint Secretary, Power(1984-86); Minister Economic in Indian High Commission in London(1986-1989); and Secretary of Urban Development and Housing(1993).

In 1993 parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka States were struck by a devastating earthquake. Government asked him to chair an Advisory Committee of International Experts on Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of the Earthquake affected. The committee’s report served as a blue-print for the entire rehabilitation and reconstruction work with World Bank aid.

Subsequently he worked as Secretary Civil Aviation; Chairman of both Air India and Indian Airlines(1994), and as Union Home Secretary and Secretary Jammu & Kashmir Affairs(1994-1997).By 1994 the entire civil administration and political process in the Kashmir valley was in disarray, and insurgency was at its peak. As Union Home Secretary he played an extremely crucial role in reviving the political process in Jammu & Kashmir State during 1994-1997, and in holding the very first elections in the insurgency ridden State after a gap of nine years.

His work received nation-wide recognition, and he was awarded the Shiromani Award for National Development and Integration (1996) and the Priyadarshini Award for outstanding Public Service (1996).

After retirement in 1997 he was appointed as the Government of India Representative for Naga Peace talks. He persuaded the Naga rebel leadership who were based abroad for decades, to come back to India, persuaded them to move away from their rigid stand of sovereignty, continued the dialogue with patience & perseverance, and persuaded them to continue the ceasefire which led to peace in Nagaland and Naga-inhabited areas of the North East during the last ten years. He relinquished this post on 31st August 2009 on completion of tenure.

He also chaired the Committee on Police Reforms (2000), Committee on Re-organization of S.S.B, and Committee to Review the working of National Institute of Urban Management. Most of his recommendations on police reforms have been accepted by Government for implementation. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2008 for outstanding contributions to the Nation in the field of Civil service.

Mr Jai Kishan Jhaver

Mr. JK Jhaver is the Co-Chair of Jhaver Group (www.jhavergroup.com), a 100+ year old conglomerate with HQ in Chennai. It has several businesses with offices in many countries. Mr. JK is involved in the family business for 30+ years.

Mr. JK Jhaver is very passionate & tries to do his best to make this world a better place to live. He spends time on several philanthropic / social activities, particularly on Village Community Development, Rural Education, Sustainable Agriculture, Ethical-Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development. He is interested in New and Affordable Technologies. Mr Jhaver is founder of Sri Siddhanta Foundation, Gramothan India & few other org.

Mr JK Jhaver is the Global Ambassador Chair of Ypo-Wpo’s Social Engagement Network and also the Regional Membership Chair of WPO, South Asia.

Mr Gopal Desikan Chakravarthy

Gopal has been with the Altimetrik Group for the past 11 years. He was based out of the global Headquarters in Southfield, Michigan from 2001 till 2009. In his capacity as Executive Vice President for International Operations, Gopal established subsidiary companies for the Group in India, Hong Kong, China and Singapore, and managed operations in these geographies between 2002 and 2008. From 2009, Gopal took on the position of Managing Director for the Indian subsidiary and has been involved in growing the operations in India, which has the largest concentration of employees.

In the past two years, Gopal has also been actively involved in targeting and evaluating companies for acquisitions, culminating in the acquisition two companies- one focussed on Enterprise services using SAP, and the other in the area of Mobile application development focussed on the financial sector. He has been focussed on integrating these acquisitions with the parent company,

Gopal is an engineer from Anna University, Chennai, India and has an MBA degree from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He worked in various capacities in Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co., a very large Consumer Durable and Industrial Products manufacturing company, and handled all operations for the Northern Indian region as Regional Manager when he left in 1989. He was then with NIIT, a leading IT services / IT education company, where he was a member of the Board and established the Software services operations for the company in Europe as the Managing Director of NIIT Europe, before he joined Altimetrik in 2001.

Air Marshal Joseph Neri

Air Marshal Joseph Neri is an Electronic Engineering graduate from College of Engineering Guindy, Chennai. He was commissioned in the IAF on July 8, 1974.

After a successful career in the Indian Air Force spanning 37 years and holding important assignments he superannuated as the Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance. For his distinguished service, Air Marshal Joseph Neri was awarded with Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) on January 26, 1999, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) on January 26, 2010, and the Param Vishist Seva Medal ( PVSM) on January 26, 2012 by the President of India. He joined the Vattikuti India Foundation as a Director in 2012 and since has been passionately involved in spearheading its activities.