Abhishek Rao

Currently leading Samagra's most impactful programs: the Ministry of Health's national HIV/AIDS and public health program. 1. Public Health (MoHFW, NACO): Set up India's Mobilisation for AIDS Suraksha (MAS) program, now running across 18 states and 219 districts, working toward HIV epidemic control by December 2027 (95-95-99 goals). Wrote the MAS Handbook, designed the Bootcamp curriculum, and built out the Suraksha Sankalp Karyashala (SSK) workshop, which has brought together 550+ participants from MoHFW, NACO, US-CDC, Jhpiego, and the Global Fund. Built the review framework for NCDC and the PoE and DM Cell workstreams (construction, procurement, manpower), with regular step-backs in place. 2. Presidential Affairs (PoI): Before working with the MoHFW, led delivery of the ₹180 Cr Rashtrapati Udyan (138 acres) and 40-acre Niketan-Tapovan estates in Dehradun, both debriefed to the Governor and the President. Delivered ₹16 Cr of visitor infrastructure (Babbling Brook, Visitor Facility Centre Gate 38) through weekly reviews across 16 Uttarakhand state departments. Worked on citizen engagement: Bharatiya Kala Mahotsav (~1.8 lakh visitors), Rajaji Mahotsav (Feb 2026), and outreach that took annual citizen touchpoints to 50L+, up from 7L pre-2023. Wrote 30+ versions of the "Indianisation" briefing for PMO and senior leadership. 3. Team and firm-wide: Managed 5+ associates across two programs through 5 team transitions, and ran 30+ recruitment interviews. Co-drafted Samagra's firm-wide Procurement Manual, and built an internal RFP-bot now used across various Programs across states. Mentored team members on RFP drafting, AI tools for ops and analytics, and structured problem-solving.

Anchored the design and launch of India's first 24x7 ON Court, a Supreme Court e-Committee–mandated digital court for cheque-bounce (Section 138 NIA) cases in Kollam, Kerala. The pilot is a proof-of-concept for re-engineering case lifecycles in India's 5+ crore pending case backlog. The court was designed in partnership with the PUCAR collective (Agami, xKDR, eGov Foundation, Samagra) and has been reviewed by the Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, and the Supreme Court & Kerala HC Computerisation Committees. Since operationalisation in November 2024, it has handled 1,611 cases (339 disposed). Key contributions: 1. Re-imagined the entire case lifecycle (filing → scrutiny → admission → summons → hearings) through user research, prototype design, and policy drafting; identified and rolled out the "constituent elements" framework for re-designing dispute resolution processes. 2. Operationalised a 15+ member multi-organisation collective; built champion-level alignment with senior judges (Justice Mustaque, Justice Raja), district judiciary, PWD, the Bar Association, and tech vendors. Led design of courtroom layout, hearing flows, and procurement processes, coordinating across 50+ stakeholders including PWD, court staff, and IT departments. 3. Led a 5-member team across Karnataka and Kerala; onboarded, trained, and mentored associates on legal drafting, design thinking, and stakeholder management. 4. Drafted miscellaneous policy documents, vendor agreements (e.g., with eGov Foundation), and edited outreach scripts on legal reforms and judicial budget transparency. Separately, for the organisation, co-drafted Samagra's firm-wide Procurement Manual and built an internal RFP-bot now used across the firm. Authored LinkedIn op-eds amplifying PUCAR's governance and program approach.

Worked on NIPUN Bharat, Uttar Pradesh's flagship Foundational Literacy & Numeracy mission covering 1.1 lakh schools, 4 lakh teachers, and 30 lakh students in grades 1-2, and helped launch the Chief Minister's NIPUN Bharat Associates (CMNBA) fellowship program with IIM Lucknow. NIPUN Bharat (UP): Owned the academic workstream end-to-end: drove approval and procurement of teaching-learning materials (textbooks, workbooks, math kits, print-rich material, teacher guides) via 4 GeM bids. Coordinated training of ~4,000 master trainers and ~25% of state teachers through state elections and the COVID third wave; built tracking systems, escalation matrices, and the FLN Monitoring Portal adoption strategy across 75 districts and 823 blocks. Anchored the statewide YouTube live training series on TLM use that achieved 10,00,000+ views, a state record at the time. Built working relationships with SCERT, SIE, SIEMAT, and academic partners (LLF, VERS, CSF) for content development, revision, and teacher-training delivery. CMNBA fellowship (with IIM Lucknow): Drafted the manpower-agency bid and contract documentation; aligned senior stakeholders, including the Director General of School Education and IIM-Lucknow faculty. Drafted the MoU between the Department of Basic Education and IIM Lucknow; built the full bid-and-contract lifecycle workplan and onboarded the founding fellowship cohort.

Advised domestic and international clients on M&A transactions, regulatory matters, and India-entry structuring within Khaitan's Mumbai general corporate practice. Advised Metro AG, TVS Group, Sterling Wilson, Sunrise Spices, Elements Inc., and other clients on M&A transactions: drafted and negotiated term sheets, share purchase / subscription agreements, joint venture agreements, business and asset transfer agreements. Led India-entry advisory for foreign investors, structuring, regulatory registrations, and operational set-up. Sector advisory across FEMA, gaming law, and online fantasy sports; authored the firm's industry response to the NITI Aayog consultation paper on Regulation of Online Fantasy Sports Platforms in India (drafted after extensive consultations with industry leaders, clients, and stakeholders). Published 4 articles on regulatory and sector developments — covering RBI restrictions on FATF non-compliant NBFC investments, gaming law updates, online fantasy sports, and the Companies (Amendment) Act 2019 CSR provisions. Contributed to the firm's internal knowledge management platform for legal and regulatory opinions; compiled the firm's database of laws and developments in the gaming sector.