Executive Committee

CHAIRPERON - Dr. Ratnesh Lal.

Dr. Ratnesh Lal serves as Senior Director, Corporate Affairs, Herbalife India

He has 21 years of extensive experience in Government Affairs, Public Policy, Corporate Communications, Coalition Building and establishing Public-Private Partnerships at the international, national and sub-national levels of Government. Having started his career with the United Nations, Dr. Ratnesh coordinated the World Health Organization’s support to 11 countries in the South-east Asian region.

Thereafter, he headed the Corporate & Government Affairs department for various organisations such as MSD India, GlaxoSmithkline (GSK), Biocon Biologics and Lupin. In these roles he successfully negotiated challenges in regulatory approvals, manufacturing, Ease-of-Doing business, taxation & GST and provided policy advocacy expertise on Intellectual Property Rights & Patent protection.

Dr. Ratnesh holds a medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi and a master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard University.

VICE CHAIRPERSON - Ms. Aprajita Sarcar

Aprajita Sarcar is a dynamic leader with a valuable experience of 28 years across industries. Her forte is Business Strategy with emphasis on Innovation, Expansion & Engagement. She has been with Modicare for over 4 years and is currently heading the Growth Office, where she is driving strategy and high impact initiatives related to growing the company's business. Aprajita has worked on business process enhancements and has also been part of driving culture change in the organisation.

Aprajita has been on the Advocacy Committee of IDSA for the last 2 years and was actively involved in various industry initiatives.

A postgraduate from the Times School of Marketing, Aprajita has earlier worked across businesses of the Times Group, including the Corporate Strategy Group.

Aprajita has a keen interest in coaching and mentoring people to help them excel. She loves reading, travelling, music and dance.

Treasurer - Mr. Vivek Katoch

A 'Corporate Affairs Specialist' with over 18 years of experience in various domains including Corporate Relations, Government Affairs, Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibly, Corporate Taxation, Internal & External Compliance, Business Ethics, Public Private Partnership.Corporate mandate in current profile includes identifying & establishing strategic relationships with Dignitaries, Key Officials in Public Services & Government Departments, Members of Parliament & Legislative Assemblies at Centre & states. Current responsibilities also include harnessing partnership with important industry stakeholders for stability, growth & expansion. Strong legal acumen with expertise in representing the organization and the Industry at Government Department, Regulators and Supervisory bodies in effectuating policies conducive for the industry.

Vast experience in managing a challenging & evolving business environment with proven competency in resolving complex issues with endurance determination and persistence. Strong drive towards team building, networking skills and relationship management with all business stakeholders. Conceptualized, developed, and managed the organization's sustainability and CSR initiatives with the objective of promoting gender equality, women empowerment, girl child education and sustainability.

Currently representing the Organization at Key Industry bodies like Indian Direct Selling Association (Former Chairman, current Treasurer), FICCI (Current Chair- Direct Selling Task Force) PHD Chamber of Commerce (Patron Member) and a Board Member at European Business Group. Also representing the industry on various global platforms, holding key positions such as "Board of Delegates" at World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), and "Board Member" at ASEAN DSA President's Working Committee.

An avid reader, Vivek remains updated on national & global current affairs. When not working, Vivek loves to spend time with his children. Vivek finds inspiration in his wife and loves to travel around the world with his family, absorbing and learning different cultures.

SECRETARY- Mr. Rajat Banerji

Rajat Banerji is Vice President - Corporate Affairs at Amway India Enterprises, has been an integral part of the direct selling industry for over two-decades. In this period, he has been part of IDSAs thought-process, meetings with Central as well as State Governments, part of international delegations, media interactions and CSR outreach. He has been with Amway since April 2000 in a variety of roles - while the first five years at Amway were devoted to the Company's CSR efforts, he was Head Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility between July 2005 and April 2010. He has done his PGD in Journalism from BVB, Delhi. Prior to joining Amway, he was a journalist for eight years in Delhi [three years with The Statesman, Delhi and five years with Down To Earth - a publication from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)]. Prior to being a journalist, Rajat had worked in the Tea and Coffee estates of Tata Tea Ltd and Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation for close to three years, at Munnar, Tirunelveli and Coorg. A father of three (19, 15 and 7), he is an endurance runner who revels in overcoming severe physical challenges while on a trail-run, which includes ultra-runs at Ladakh and Manali, besides over a dozen marathons and many more. His Mantra on the run-and-work connect is that endurance runs help in better planning – with a contingency: prioritizing: absolute focus: to appreciate what one has: not to stop before the finish line: always to help stragglers (as one may be a straggler on a bad day!) and just to be in the moment.

Secretary General - Mr. Romesh Kumar Puri

Romesh Kumar Puri, besides overseeing all the activities of the association, will also spearhead its envisioned mission and objectives. With a distinguished career spanning over 34 years in the Government of India, Mr. Puri has held various significant roles across multiple ministries and departments.

Notably, Mr. Puri brings a wealth of expertise in policy formulation, program management, and research-driven studies. As a former Joint Director of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), he played a key role in the development of the upcoming e-commerce policy and the national retail trade policy, among other critical initiatives. His extensive experience will contribute significantly to the growth and development of the direct selling industry.

Senior Manager - Ms. Amarpreet Kaur Chawla

I am a non-profit professional with 7+years of working experience in domains of programme management, implementation, impact evaluation, qualitative research, documentation and communications in multiple thematic areas of education, governance, C4D, disaster resilience and a host of others. With a Post-graduation in Political Science and Certification in Public Policy and Gender studies, I possess strong understanding of development issues and how they intersect with each other.