Alumni Feature | M D Dilshad Ahmad, Master’s in Public Policy ‘22

Born in Patna and raised in multiple cities, Dilshad experienced the cultural diversity of the society very early in his life. Dilshad got a taste of fierce competition at a very young age when he excelled in a national level exam for the admission to secondary school in Jamia Millia Islamia- New Delhi. With an equal interest in extra -curricular activities and deep connection with societal issues, Dilshad participated and won many prizes and accolades in several Debate, Speech and Elocution competitions. The curiosity to learn Tech-enabled solutions to the pressing problems motivated Dilshad to join Engineering at People’s University in Bhopal. Having pursued a degree in Engineering and worked in the Infrastructure sector for a while, Dilshad wanted to shape the inner calling of service to the underprivileged in the society, therefore he indulged himself into the UPSC preparation. It was during the preparation that he decided to expand the horizons of knowledge and pursue a PG Program. Master’s in Public Policy at NLSIU was the obvious choice as the multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary curriculum would equip him well to attain his objectives. Dilshad drew insights from each of the chapters which helped him add value to his learning journey and the exposure to a multitude of sectors and policy issues. While joining the seventh cohort of MPP online amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Dilshad realised the potential of technology in dealing with the policy problems. This led him to join Aapti Institute, a Bengaluru-based think tank, for a Client Led Project where he worked on the project- ‘Developing Liability Framework on the use of Artificial Intelligence in the Health sector in India’. Dilshad firmly believes that the unique pedagogy of MPP which focuses more on ‘deliberative’ process of learning than the ‘instructive’ process, coupled with enriching peer learning have enhanced his skill set and learning curve. These learnings and rich insights offered by the professors have helped Dilshad immensely in contributing to his responsibilities while working as an Odisha Development Fellow at Poverty and Human Development Monitoring Agency (PHDMA), Government of Odisha and as a Research Intern at Sambodhi Communications and Research Pvt. Ltd. Dilshad has also participated in the St. Joseph’s College of Law (SJCL) Climate Action Policy Hackathon– 2022, where his team prepared a policy brief on sustainable recommendations to climate change action for a city similar to Bengaluru. He is also a Leader in the Residence Life Team where he is tasked with maintaining better residence facilities while ensuring the safety of each of the residents. As a policy researcher with diverse experiences, he seeks to broaden his understanding and perspectives. Dilshad has also been selected for the first cohort of PA Sangma Fellowship for Legal and Policy Research of the Government of Meghalaya which will help him in giving effect to these objectives.