On 5 November 2025, Dr. Niveditha Menon, Director of CBPS, participated as a panelist in a discussion on the Impact Assessment of Shakti Scheme, held as part of the ‘Dissemination of Research Findings on Government Guarantee Schemes’ event organised by Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), Government of Karnataka.
The event brought together government officials, policymakers, and researchers to deliberate on findings from studies evaluating the five guarantee schemes launched by the Government of Karnataka in 2023. The discussions focused on research outcomes, policy implications, and actionable insights for stakeholder departments, and engaged with some of the larger questions regarding public welfare and policy action.
The session on the Impact Assessment of the Shakti Scheme was chaired by Shri. TM Vijay Bhaskar, IAS (Retd.), and featured Dr. Narendar Pani (Professor, NIAS), Dr. Niveditha Menon (Director, CBPS), Dr. Kala S Sridhar (Professor, ISEC), and Dr. D Narayana (Former Director, GIFT) as panelists.
The event was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, with a keynote address by Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chair of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. The proceedings were chaired by Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka.
Also in attendance were senior government officials, including Smt. Uma Mahadevan, IAS (Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner), Shri. Ritesh Kumar Singh, IAS (Principal Secretary, Finance Department and Chairman, FPI), and Dr. Vishal R, IAS (Secretary, Finance Department and Director, FPI).