Alumni Feature | Paras Tyagi, Master’s in Public Policy ‘16

Growing up in an urban village in Delhi, Paras witnessed and experienced urbanisation at the most fundamental level – removal of 30 metre tall trees lining a street to make way for cars, building a huge cemented structure on the village commons to host community events, filling up the village pond with dirt to construct an arts & cultural centre, and the list goes on. The disparity between the needs of the people and the government policies was striking. This dissonance continued troubling him even after finishing his graduation in physics from Delhi university. It became clear to Paras that his true passion lay in societal development, specifically in the context of urban villages, declared urban villages and the about-to-be-urbanized rural villages. Subsequently, he worked in the decentralised solar energy industry and several community and advocacy organisations. Finally, Paras found the perfect place to attain the skills required to fulfil his goal of harmonising villagers’ needs and government actions – this was the Master of Public Policy programme at NLSIU. Not only did the course cover a wide range of socio-political issues, but it also combined theoretical understanding with practical solutions. NLSIU provided an environment to learn how to handle cut-throat competition, dealing with social protocols/contract, proving oneself outstanding, hunger for growth, and what a city-based life demands. Shortly after graduating from NLSIU, Paras co-founded the Center for Youth, Culture, Law and Environment (CYCLE), an NGO that works to improve the implementation of public policies in India. In the couple of years of its existence, CYCLE has built strong collaborations with other organisations and village-based organisations in Delhi’s rural & urban villages and brought the conversation around the Lal Dora villages to the mainstream media. CYCLE hosted and led the first ever panel discussion about Lal Dora at the annual India Land and Development Conference 2020. Paras is excited to continue working with the excellent team at CYCLE and the community of Delhi villages to shape government policies that fit the needs of the villagers.