Satya Swaroop Panda has a post-graduate degree in Development Studies and a master's degree in Sociology. He is working on a pilot project involving household kitchen gardening and vegetable cultivation in five villages in Wardha district. He believes community-led programs like the National Rural Livelihoods Mission can effectively combat poverty. Satya was an accomplished speaker in school and college, representing his institutions in debates and discussions at the state and national level.

1. Satya Swaroop Panda
Satya, a Post-Graduate in Development Studies from Tata Institute of
Social Sciences also holds a Masters degree in Sociology. He belongs
to Kalahandi, a region enlisted among the most backward areas of the
country. He believes that “Umed” has been a relevant platform for him
to begin with a promising as well as challenging career in the
development sector.
At present Satya is working on a pilot project in Seloo block of Wardha district for the
adoption of household kitchen gardening and vegetable cultivation as an option for
livelihoods in five villages with the participation of the respective village organisations
formed under Umed. He is also developing a package of practices and protocol for the same.
He has also successfully contributed to the ongoing pilot of Umed on PRI-CBO convergence
at Deoli block of Wardha district in which he was a member of the team conducting a
scoping study exercise. Satya believes that a demand driven programme like the National
Rural Livelihoods Mission could go a long way in combating poverty through institutional
mechanisms owned and developed by the community itself.
Satya has been an orator during his school and college days while representing the institutes
he attended at the state and national level winning medals in debates and Inter-University
panel discussions on a range of issues. He represented TISS at the Jamshedpur National
Debate organised by XLRI, Jamshedpur. In addition to this he was also a lead organiser of an
art event at TISS captioned “BIPLAB: The shades of struggle” depicting the cases of
atrocities against the Dalit communities across the country. As a student of Sociology and
Development Studies, Satya has presented academic papers in national seminars and his
articles have also been published in edited volumes. His passion in writing motivates him to
write research papers especially on the issue of marginalisation among the socially
underprivileged communities. Apart from this, prolific discussions in social media, singing
and acting add to his hobbies.