सुखस्य मूलं धर्म:। धर्मस्य मूलं अर्थ:।
अर्थस्य मूलं राज्यं। राज्यस्य मूलं इन्द्रियजय:।
— Arthashastra, Book 1, Chapter 19
The root of happiness is righteousness, the root of righteousness is wealth. The root of wealth is the state, and the root of the state is self-control.
Global Village Foundation (GVF), a registered non-profit established in 2015, operates as an ICSSR-recognised research institution dedicated to strengthening governance frameworks across Indian states. We specialise in public policy research, advisory services and process management — with an emphasis on citizen-centric governance solutions.
Guided by the motto IDEATE | IMPLEMENT | IMPACT, the Foundation bridges critical policy gaps through evidence-based research and stakeholder engagement — integrating Shashan, Prashashan and Sushashan principles to foster sustainable governance ecosystems.
GVF is grounded in the conviction that India's governance and development challenges require indigenous, context-specific solutions — not imported, one-size-fits-all frameworks.
Effective solutions emerge from deep engagement with local contexts, blending Indian philosophy with contemporary policy science.
Research disconnected from implementation stays theoretical. We partner with agencies to pilot, scale and embed reforms.
Success is measured in tangible improvements to governance systems and citizen welfare — not in research outputs alone.
Our approach prioritises local contextual knowledge, regional capabilities and grassroots networks. All work is oriented toward India's vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047 through effective, responsive and citizen-centric governance systems.
Over a decade ago, in 2015, GVF began with a simple, persistent question — why do well-designed policies so often fail to reach the last mile? That question was not academic. It came from watching how institutions shape everyday life: how rules, budgets and administrative decisions can either serve people with dignity or unintentionally leave them behind.
GVF was born from one conviction — India's diversity is not a weakness to be managed, but a strength to be honoured. Solutions endure only when they are rooted in India's constitutional architecture, regional realities and the people who must implement them.
Policy becomes meaningful only when it reaches the last mile. We don't parachute recommendations into states — we co-design with governments and partners because each state's economic behaviour, institutional capacity and citizen needs are unique.
GVF draws from Indian knowledge traditions while remaining rigorously outcome-focused — bridging ideas and implementation through evidence-led policy design, public finance research and capacity building.
Registered as a public trust under the Indian Trusts Act 1882, GVF is an ICSSR-recognised institute and the implementing agency for Haryana's Chief Minister's Good Governance Associates programme.
India's path to equitable development runs not through imitation but through reclaiming its own values of Sushashan, Prashashan and Shashan — good governance, wise administration and rightful rule.
GVF's recognition by the Indian Council of Social Science Research is not merely an accreditation — it is an affirmation of our institutional mission. ICSSR evaluates institutes on methodological rigour, research impact, institutional governance and contribution to policy discourse.
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GVF's work bridges the gap between policymaking and ground realities. By combining research, implementation insights and evaluation, we support systems that deliver meaningful change.
Sh. Bajrang Bagra
Chairman
Global Village Foundation
Governance changes lives. I have seen it happen — when a scheme reaches the right household, when a district official has the data to act, when a system built on paper starts working on the ground. That is what drives us at GVF.
We partner with institutions not to advise from a distance, but to work alongside them. From policy design to last-mile delivery, we bring the thinking and the doing together. We also invest deeply in understanding what works — our R&D vertical is recognised by ICSSR. We produce assessments, evaluations and policy studies grounded in field reality.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन — We carry that conviction into every engagement: working with what exists, fixing what is broken, building what is missing.
Because when governance functions with accountability and intention, lives transform. At GVF, we exist to honour that compact between the state and its people — faster systems, more honest institutions, and delivery that finally reaches those it was always meant to serve.
We are always looking for partners who believe the same. If you are working on a governance challenge, we would like to be part of solving it.
Sh. Bajrang Bagra
Chairman, Global Village Foundation
Governance is not a concept. It is a daily practice — the larger architecture within which governments, communities, civil society, and citizens all play a role, shaped by how all these actors engage, collaborate, and hold each other accountable.
We work on what I call the architecture of delivery — the connective tissue between what a government intends and what a citizen actually receives. A state's fiscal health, its planning mechanisms, and its institutional culture are not separate concerns — they are one system, and they must be treated as one.
The concept of Daishik Shastra shapes how we approach our engagements. We do not import solutions — we study what already exists, identify what is missing, and build from there.
We believe a self-reliant state is one where institutions have the capacity to solve their own problems. Our role is to build that capacity — not to create dependence on us. When our engagement ends and the system continues to function, that is the outcome we work toward.
If you are building something for governance — a framework, a programme, a reform — we would like to understand it and contribute to it.
Sumit Kumar
Director, Global Village Foundation
Sumit Kumar
Director
Global Village Foundation
Bring together people who care about a cause.