Alumni Feature | Priyanka Sahasrabudhe, Master’s in Public Policy ‘21

Priyanka Sahasrabudhe is a policy enthusiast born and raised in Pune. She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Economics (Honors) from the Symbiosis School of Economics in 2017, which fuelled her interest in social aspects of development. Following her passion, she spent a year working in the higher education sector, through short-term stints at PaGaLGuY (India’s largest network for MBA aspirants) and Dilip Oak’s Academy (Pune’s oldest study-abroad consultancy). She also undertook voluntary engagement with RealLives, a gamified education resource for promoting global empathy. Having gained an insight into the aspirations of young students and their motivation to migrate, she joined the Master’s of Public Policy (MPP) with the ambition of making India a nation that is able to retain its bright talent. “The balanced approach of the MPP course between socio-political discourse and analytical economics has helped me appreciate the hidden, often-overlooked aspects of policy”, Priyanka elucidates. As part of the course’s holistic learning which requires students to explore rural realities through a fieldwork component, Priyanka pursued this with Khoj, Melghat in central Maharashtra. There, she learnt the nuances of human-wildlife conflict through engagement with resettled tribal communities from the Melghat Tiger Reserve and Indian Forest Service officers who oversee the rehabilitation process. These learnings were presented at a seminar in Amravati titled Saksham Melghat, Safal Melghat which was well attended by public servants, researchers and representatives of the Korku tribal community. For professional enrichment, she completed an internship with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) – where she prepared a White Paper on the Status of Public Private Partnerships in India. Recently, she has completed an internship with Observer Research Foundation (ORF), during which two of the articles she co-authored have been published in the Expert Speak section of ORF and the Opinion section of the Global Policy Journal, respectively. These internships, along with course modules on economics, development, public finance and political economy have helped her refine her professional orientation. She hopes to engage with infrastructure, investment and manufacturing policy with an outlook to create opportunities in India, for the talented and ambitious youth of today.