Decriminalising Business Laws in Kerala: A Policy Discussion on Regulatory Reform

The Centre for Public Policy Research is organizing a discussion on  Decriminalising Business Laws in Kerala: A Policy Discussion on Regulatory Reform in association with TiE Kerala on 12 March 2026, at 4 PM at the Kerala Startup Mission, Kochi. Kerala StartUp Mission and Kerala Angel Network are the supporting Partners.

Read More about our Study on Ease of Doing Business: Decriminalising Business Rules and Regulations

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Key Speakers:

T. Nanda Kumar I.A.S (Retd)

Former Secretary, Agriculture & Food, GoI; Former Chairman of NDDB.

Shri T. Nanda Kumar, IAS (Retd.), joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1972 (Bihar Cadre) and held key administrative roles, including District Collector, Divisional Commissioner of Gaya, Secretary (Industries), Bihar, and Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Jharkhand. He later served as Chairman of the Spices Board in Kochi, guiding the sector during the transition to the WTO regime and strengthening India’s spice exports. At the Government of India, he served as Food Secretary (2006) and Agriculture Secretary (2008–2010), where he managed the 2009 drought. After retirement, he chaired a Committee of Secretaries on optimising fertiliser usage and served as a Member of the National Disaster Management Authority with the rank of Minister of State. He has also contributed to policy work on ease of doing business and investment promotion for states such as Punjab and Kerala, and writes regularly for leading national newspapers.

M P Joseph IAS (R), Former UN and Indian Civil Servant

Former Advisor in the rank of Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala.

M. P. Joseph, IAS (Retd.), is a former IAS officer (1978 batch, Kerala) who briefly served in the IPS (1977 batch) and also worked as a Probationary Officer at the State Bank of India. He later spent over 20 years with the International Labour Organization in India and abroad, including Cambodia, and is widely recognised for his work combating child labour, helping withdraw or prevent over 10 lakh children from child labour and rehabilitating them into schools.

He served as District Collector of Ernakulam and Mayor of Cochin, playing a key role in shaping Kochi’s transition into a major city. His other roles include Labour Commissioner, Managing Director of ODEPC, and Advisor to the Government of Kerala with the rank of Additional Chief Secretary. He is also the founder and Executive Vice Chairman of Bhavanam Foundation Kerala, and the author of the book My Driver Tulong, based on his experiences in Cambodia.

Moderator:

Dr D Dhanuraj

Founder-Chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi

Dhanuraj is the Founder-Chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), a non-profit, independent public policy think-tank based in Kochi, Kerala, India.

With two decades of experience in this sector, his interest areas lie at the intersection of research and policy analysis. He is a policy researcher and commentator on urbanisation, urban mobility and infrastructure, education, retail, health, livelihood, law, public expenditure, defence and security, geopolitics and election analysis, and has collaborated with state, national and international governments, organisations and institutions on several key research studies and policy recommendations.

Well known in the international, national and state public policy space, he is a noted speaker, panellist and thought leader at several policy debates, discussions, panels, conferences and roundtables. He also writes extensively for several leading media publications and contributes his expertise and opinion as a policy expert on news channels.

Currently, he is also the President of the Association of Public Policy Education in India (APPE), and was the Secretary General of Liberal Youth South Asia (LYSA) from 2008- 09 and Founder President and Trustee of Liberal Youth Forum of India (LYF) from 2008 to 2011.

Adv Anu Maria Francis

Senior Associate, Research and Project Management, Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi

Anu Maria Francis works as a Senior Associate (Research and Project Management) at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR). She received her law degree from the National University of Advanced Legal Studies in Kochi. She has worked as a UPSC exam teacher and mentor for several coaching schools in Kerala.

Her scholarly interests include legal and urban governance, as well as concerns of livelihood. She won the 2022 Think Tank Shark Tank Award by Atlas Network USA. She spoke on the topic “Economic rights of women in Asia” at the Asia Liberty Forum 2022 in Manila, Philippines, and the Liberty Forum 2022 in New York. She has also interned with the Kerala State Information Commission, ACTIONAID India, Ceat Tyres Ltd, Biocon Pharma Ltd, Khaitan and Co Law Firm, among others.

A few snapshots from the event!