Dr. Aarushi Jain, hailing from Shimla, has made Himachal proud by being appointed as the ‘Policy Director’ at the prestigious Indian School of Business (ISB). ISB is the top management institution in India and among the top 5 in Asia. Dr Jain is associated with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, the Policy research center within ISB. She did her schooling from Loreto Convent Tara Hall, Shimla and her Ph.D from Department of Public Administration, Himachal Pradesh University as the first UGC-JRF/SRF of the department. She taught in the post-graduate programme in Public Administration along with her Ph.D from 2004-2009. Dr Aarushi Jain subsequently worked in various institutions in Himachal including the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur and Himachal Consultancy Organization. Her yearning to learn took her places and she got international exposure as she went with family to Duke University, USA.
On return, Dr Jain joined ISB as the Associate Director in 2018. In her current leadership role, she is responsible for managing a portfolio of public policy, civil servant and legislator’s trainings, and government engagements. Dr Jain has recently co-authored a book with her father, Dr J.N. Barowalia on ‘Cyber Laws and Cyber Crime’, Oct 2021 edition. Her previous book was on ‘Public-Private Partnership and Corporate Social Responsibility’ and she has more than 40 publications in leading journals. The institute is currently working with National level institutions as NITI Aayog, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Ministries of Govt of India, State Governments of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana etc. The government engagements that Dr Jain leads relate to evidence-based policy interventions, research inputs and capacity building initiatives. The institution also works with donor agencies as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, International Organizations and International Universities.
Dr Aarushi had been working relentlessly in education sector for last two decades. With a purpose to enhance student motivation and provide career guidance, she with her husband Mr Abhishek Jain, IAS, HP, had been conducting programmes in various schools and colleges in Himachal. She had been keenly associated with Himachal Pradesh Redcross in the past and as the Chairperson of District HWS of Redcross in Una, Hamirpur and Kullu (between 2007-2016), she took various initiatives towards women empowerment, girl child education and improving child sex ratio, for which she had received state level award in 2015 at Una. “I had always been attracted to governments and governance issues since my school days and had always dreamt of contributing to the policy sphere. Through this position, I want to contribute towards creating the policy impact for the grassroots.” Dr Jain said. Currently, she works on issues of Good Governance, Ethics in Public Policy, Digital Governance, Women Empowerment, Rural Development and the Education sector. This daughter of Himachal has definitely been able to break the glass ceiling and fly high, showing path to many young girls in the state.
Nurturing Creativity – Keekli Charitable Trust, Shimla
