DK

DIWAKAR KUMAR

Revenue and Land Reforms Department, Government of Bihar, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, IIM Bodh Gaya, Central University of Gujarat, JG University, Central University of Jharkhand

ORCID iD 0000-0002-4228-3200
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About

I am an interdisciplinary researcher, educator, and public policy practitioner working at the intersection of Science, Technology and Society (STS), agricultural innovation, rural development, and governance. He currently serves as Chief Minister's Fellow for Public Policy and Good Governance at IIM Bodh Gaya, embedded in the Land and Revenue Department, Government of Bihar, where he works on land-records digitisation (Parimarjan, Dakhil-Kharij), state land surveys, Abhiyan Basera-2, revenue court reform, and last-mile evaluation of flagship government schemes.
I was previously a DST Policy Fellow at the Centre for Society and Policy, IISc Bangalore (2024–2026), appointed by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, where I co-authored research on tropical peatland carbon vulnerability, constructed wetlands for integrated water management, and AI in agriculture. Earlier, he served as Assistant Professor in the School of Management at JG University, Ahmedabad (2023–2024), teaching public policy, sustainability, and research methods, and spent over four years as Field Coordinator with the Dharti Foundation working on rural development.
I hold a PhD in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy from the Central University of Gujarat, with an ethnography-based thesis on agricultural universities, extension, and policy for rural development in Gujarat; an M.Phil. on innovation in agricultural bioinformatics in India; an M.A. in Tribal Law and Governance (Distinction) from the Central University of Jharkhand; a B.Sc.-IT from Gossner College, Ranchi; and a Post Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Extension Management from MANAGE, Hyderabad.
I have authored 14+ peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters with Springer, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, and the Observer Research Foundation, and presented at more than 40 national and international conferences, including IIT Bombay, the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Edinburgh, and the Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona. I served as a Research Assistant on a Harvard University project on scientific knowledge transfer in rural India and is an alumnus of The World Academy of Sciences' Science Diplomacy course, Trieste.
His research interests include STS, agricultural innovation and extension, public policy and good governance, land and water governance, science communication, tribal and cultural studies, environmental humanities, climate change, citizen science, and ethnographic and mixed methods.

Employment

  • Revenue and Land Reforms Department, Government of Bihar Public Policy and Good Governance Fellow
    2026 - 2028
  • Indian Institute of Science Bangalore Policy Fellow
    2024 - 2026
  • JG University Assistant Professor
    2023 - 2024

Education

  • IIM Bodh Gaya Masters
    2026 - 2028
  • Central University of Gujarat PhD
    2018 - 2024
  • Central University of Gujarat MPhil
    2015 - 2017
  • Central University of Jharkhand MAster of Arts
    2013 - 2015

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (4)