Mihir Shah is currently a Member of the Indian Planning Commission in charge of the Rural Development and water resources and the states of the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and the Maharashtra. He is also a member of the Samaj Pragati Sahayog, one of India’s largest grass-roots initiatives for water and livelihood security, working with its partners on a million acres of land across 72 of India’s most backward districts, mainly in the central Indian Adivasi belt.Mihir Shah is interested in exploring different perspectives and forms of engagement to policymaking, working with the states, partnerships with civil society, and to public systems reforms, especially in shaping the approach to the Twelfth Indian Five Year Plan (2010-2017), and reshaping policies like the water policy and programmes, in the light of the future changing demands and needs of human settlement development in India.