Hemraj Patil has a degree of Masters in social work (Community development) and 13 yearsтАЩ experience working in the public health sector. For the last 9 years he has been working with SATHI, on Community-based Monitoring and planning of┬аHealth Services and Decentralized Health Planning. Currently he coordinates with rural organizations in 17 districts, for public participation in health services, right to health and social audit. He has vast experience in liasoning with state level administrations, departments and officials.
Bhausaheb Aher is a post-graduate in social work from Karve Institute of Social Services, Pune University. He has twenty-two years of experience in the development field. For the past 10 years, as part of his work in SATHI, he has been centrally involved in district and state-level training on Health Rights and the Right to Health Care, Community action for nutrition and the social audit process of multi-sectorial services in Maharashtra. He has also written articles in the Marathi language in different newspapers and magazines on the above issues. He anchors the Media and ICT programme, preparing video documentary on various topics/themes for the organization and designing of tools, reports, posters, Sticker, Calendar, booklet and other types of training and advocacy materials for the project.
Shakuntala has been with SATHI for 14 years.┬аStarting with training initiatives for ASHA workers in rural and tribal areas, she engaged in various advocacy activities in collaboration with civil┬аsociety organisations.┬аHer work in SATHI helped her understand health rights and advocacy, and her experience on the ground sharpened her interventions.┬аIn addition to working for the public health system, she has also been involved in advocacy efforts for the accountability of the private sector.┬аCurrently, she coordinates the SATHI’s work on Patient rights initiative to ensure health services reach the poor patients and their health rights are protected.
Trupti Malti is a post-graduate in Sociology from Pune University, with twenty years of experience in the development field. She has been associated with SATHI since last twelve years, and is presently working as program in-charge for public health program. She has good managerial as well as analytical skills, which have enabled her in the execution of project activities including developing strategies, questionnaires and analysing data as per requirements of the projects. She has played a key role in training component of the projects as well as developing the resource materials. She is involved in health budget analysis and multi sectoral social audits process in Maharashtra. She has written articles on various issues related to health rights and health budgets in the local media.
Shweta Marathe is the current Associate Coordinator of SATHI and coordinates its research division. She is a┬аHealth Systems researcher with an academic background of hospital and healthcare management. With a decade long experience with SATHI she has gained a good grasp of community-action which enhances her ability to conduct health policy and system research in relevant ways. She is keen to undertake action-oriented research, that actively supports advocacy efforts for better and improved health system. She had been a KEYSTONE fellow under Alliance for Health Policy and System Research program. Her research interests focus on functioning of the public health system and transformations in the private healthcare sector. Along with publications in peer reviewed journals, she also writes analytical articles on health policy and system related issues in Marathi and English media. Her recent research work includes research projects with KingтАЩs college, London and the Accountability Research Centre, American University.
Dr. Abhay Shukla, is Senior Programme Coordinator in SATHI and has been with SATHI right from its inception in 1998. He is a public health physician with postgraduation degrees from AIIMS, New Delhi and has been actively engaged in health rights work since last three decades. He has guided multiple action and research projects since its conceptualisation to analytical writing. He has been the principal investigator for various research projects. He has been persistently contributing to wide canvas of public health areas like strengthening of public health system, community nutrition, social regulation of the private healthcare sector and Universal Health Care. He is member of various networks including National Co-Convener, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (PeopleтАЩs Health Movement тАУ India), Global Steering Committee, Community of Practitioners on Accountability and Social Action in Health (COPASAH) and Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare (ADEH). He also serves as a member on government committees including National Health Mission тАУ Advisory Group for Community Action (AGCA), Core group on Health, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and State Mentoring Committee, National Health Mission, Maharashtra.┬а Along with authoring scientific papers, books and reports, he also writes prolifically on issues of public health and accountability for mainstream media.
Dhananjay Kakade has 18 years of professional experience at the global and the national level in the development sector. He has worked as a trainer, researcher, campaigner, organiser, manager and grant-maker, focusing on social accountability, governance, and human rights.
Dhananjay has worked with civil society organisations and funding agencies to safeguard human rights and promote people’s participation in health decision-making. From 2004 to 2012, Dhananjay worked with SATHI- CEHAT- Pune as a Senior Program Officer and Associate Coordinator, and worked with Oxfam India as a Health Coordinator from 2013 to 2014. He has worked in the Public Health Program of the Open Society Foundations, New York, from 2015 to 2018. Before joining Open Society Foundations, he served as the Executive Director of the National Center for Advocacy Studies in India from 2014 to 2015. In his last assignment, he has worked with the Asia Pacific Regional Office (South Asia) of Open Society Foundations and was based in London.
