Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS) Looking For Policy Analyst – Strategy, Policy and Planning at New Delhi, Delhi, Full Time

Our Work

Air Pollution Action Group (A-PAG) was set up in 2019 by Ashish Dhawan (Founder and Chairperson, Ashoka University and Central Square Foundation), Vijay Chadda (previously CEO of Bharti Foundation) and Mohit Beotra (previously Chief Brand Officer of Airtel). A-PAG is part of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining regions.

A-PAG is focused on strategic implementation of solutions to combat air pollution and has created a niche for itself within the broader ecosystem in the last 3 years. In this time, A-PAG has made significant progress towards bold and ambitious targets in three key areas:

• State Reforms and Implementation focused on leading A-PAG’s efforts in the Indo- Gangetic states with the overall aim of helping states and cities implement City Action Plans against air pollution. A repository of toolkits, resources, products, etc. that enable various stakeholders to address key issues has also been created.
• Policy and Research focused on translating evidence and learnings into relevant policy instruments or implementation toolkits to solve air pollution systematically.
• Political salience and advocacy focused on citizen engagement and building engagement with relevant stakeholders at the national and state level to ultimately push for political action against air pollution.

In 2019, the environment ministry implemented the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to meet the prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards at all locations in the country. The NCAP has identified 131 non-attainment cities, which are required to create, submit, and implement Comprehensive City Action Plans to reduce air pollution levels by 20-30% by 2024.

Some of the key initiatives A-PAG is currently engaged with are as follows:

• We work with the Punjab Government to reduce stubble burning. In 2020, we created a mass media campaign aimed at farmers to help address misconceptions. We also placed Project Management Resources in key districts to assist the district administration in the efforts to combat stubble burning.
• In 2019, A-PAG supported hotspot implementation plan in Delhi. A-PAG is now running a program with Delhi Municipal Corporation to address dispersed sources of pollution dust and waste burning. A-PAG is also a part of the Green War Room set-up by the government to monitor air pollution levels in the national capital. In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Haryana, A-PAG is working closely with the State Pollution Control Boards (PCBs) to help implement and monitor progress on actions from city action plans in the non-attainment cities of Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya and Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Mathura, Ghaziabad and Gurugram.

Strategy, Planning & Policy team (SPP)

SPP team does primary and secondary research, consults with experts and stakeholders to device strategies and solutions for action, and then identifies pilot projects that can be undertaken in any city by our implementation teams. As part of the research, we study sources of pollution, their causes, policy gaps, current interventions & challenges and propose projects where we can help a ULB to pilot test a solution. During and post completion of such a project, we capture learnings and help scale it up upon becoming successful.

As part of the team, you will work on building evidence around policy reforms that have worked and will work for Indian states, and develop a larger perspective of your own on what it takes to tackle the air pollution crisis in India.

About the Role:

The role is a dynamic opportunity for someone who is passionate about environmental issues and wants to work on key policy reforms to mitigate air pollution. This is a dynamic opportunity where you will get to build relationships with experts, policy makers, A-PAG senior leadership, local city government officials, State Pollution Control Boards, Ministry of Urban Development and Environment, and other partners and vendors to increase salience for key policy reforms that have the potential to have a direct impact in solving the air pollution challenge in the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Key Responsibilities

1. Policy and Research: You will have to research and analyse policies, map the landscape (current context, existing Government interventions, stakeholders, new reforms, global best practices etc.) and identify issues in policy implementation across different sectors that contribute to air pollution. You will conduct primary and secondary research to develop position papers, policy briefs, concept notes, project charters and stakeholder presentations etc.

2. Strategy and Planning: The impact of policy research is twofold. You will help identify actionable recommendations and define scope of the long term projects from City Action Plans that different geography based implementation teams at A-PAG can prioritize and work on with respective Government officials. Two, is to provide expertise to state and the central government bodies on topics such as crop residue burning, vehicular pollution, solid waste management, industrial pollution.

• Support pilots: You will provide handholding support on key strategic and high-impact projects that are designed to increase salience on air pollution in the ecosystem. You will help in developing a roadmap for implementation of the identified reforms and designing interventions that can bring about reductions in air pollution.
• Documentation: You will capture learnings from our implemented projects to create documents, articles and learning material for use by internal teams at A-PAG for expansion into newer geographies, and also for external Government organizations if they want to implement similar projects on their own.

Eligibility

• A Master’s degree in Public Policy, Environment Policy, and the Social Sciences is preferred. A Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university in science/ engineering or any other technical field with a strong record of academic performance is required.
• 2-3 years of work experience in a role with substantial analytical requirements, and/ or policy research with the government or development sector

Skill Sets Required

• Excellent analytical, research, critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Strong understanding of developing systems, formats and templates for project strategy, ideation and planning
• Great interpersonal skills and ability to interact, build strong relationships and understand the needs of internal and external stakeholders
• Strong planning and organizational skills and an ability to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, especially note writing.
• Comfortable working in ambiguous environments; self-starter that can use good judgment and resourcefulness to take action in the absence of clear guidance and articulation
• Comfortable with use of MS Office tools
• Knowledge of statistics, data analysis and data visualization; comfortable using tools such as Excel, Stata, Google charts, Tableau, and others

Location

New Delhi, India

Compensation

Based on experience and commensurate with industry standards