South Asia Chapter Officers
Md. Atikuzzaman
Chair
Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh
Md. Atikuzzaman is currently serving an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Information Sciences, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh. He secured first position in the University of Dhaka in both his post-graduation and graduation in Information Science and Library Management. He received the ‘Lion Md. Jonab Ali and Farzana Jonab Gold Medal’ and ‘Mohammad Shahidullah Gold Medal’ at the university's 52nd and 53rd convocation. The Librarian Times (TLT) also recognized him with the "Excellence Student Award - 2018." Later on, he was awarded the Dean’s Merit List of Excellence and Dean’s Merit List of Honour from the university. He joined the Library Association of Bangladesh (LAB) in 2018 and has been an active member of the ASIS&T South Asia Chapter since the same year. His research interests are focused on social media, information literacy, cloud computing, knowledge management, and the use of the internet and other technologies. He has attended several international conferences in the USA, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and other countries and published 29 research papers in renowned international journals.
Sakeena Alikhan
Chair-Elect
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sakeena Alikhan serves as a Senior Assistant Librarian at the Main Library of the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. She was awarded the esteemed "Niel Bandaranayake Memorial Prize" at the University of Colombo for her First-Class Honours degree in Geography. In 2014, Sakeena completed a Master's degree in Environmental Science and subsequently pursued a Master's degree in Library and Information Science at the National Institutes of Library and Information Science, Colombo. She commenced her professional journey as an Assistant Lecturer in Geography and subsequently worked as a Computer Instructor and GIS consultant. Sakeena has concentrated her research on digital media, digital literacy, and marginalised communities since she joined the university's library in 2017. She is presently pursuing a PhD in Library and Information Science at the University of Malaya in Malaysia.
Jannatul Islam Muna
Secretary
East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Jannatul Islam Muna is currently serving as the Library Circulation Officer at Dr. S. R. Lasker Library, East West University. She is pursuing M. Phil degree from the department of Information Science and Library Management at the University of Dhaka, where she also completed her graduation and post-graduation. Muna has contributed to various UGC projects and worked as research assistant for the National Book Centre, Dhaka. She is an active member of the ASIS&T South Asia Chapter since 2022; serving as a volunteer from 2023 to 2024. Later, she served as membership officer in 2024-2025 term. She has published articles in Scopus-indexed journals and actively presents research papers in international conferences. Her research interests include information literacy, information behavior, social informatics, artificial intelligence, digital humanities and social media.
Qazi Imran Ahmad
Treasurer
District Judiciary Punjab, Pakistan
Qazi Imran Ahmad is a Librarian at the District Judiciary Punjab, Pakistan. He holds an M.Phil. in Information Management from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, and an LL.M. from the University of Lahore. He has also served as a Law Library Officer at the University of Management and Technology, Lahore. He has received appreciation awards for his outstanding research work and legal research support from the Worthy District & Sessions Judge, Kasur. He is the winner of the South Asia Chapter Best Research Paper Award 2024–25, conferred by ASSIST at its Annual Meeting 2025. His research interests include information-seeking behavior, social influence, and marginalized communities.
Syamili C.
Newsletter Officer
University of Calicut, Kerala, India
Syamili C. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of Calicut. She holds a Master’s degree from Calicut University, a Doctoral degree from Pondicherry Central University and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Alagappa University, Tamil Nadu. Driven by a commitment to equitable information accessibility and open science, Dr. Syamili’s work seeks to foster knowledge inclusivity and bridge systemic gaps in access to information.
Sameer Sahu
Webmaster
Lalji Mehrotra Lions School, Ahmedabad, India
Sameer Sahu currently serves as a Librarian at Lalji Mehrotra Lions School, where he manages library operations and fosters a stimulating learning environment for students. He previously worked as a Trainee Library Professional Assistant at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, gaining practical experience in diverse library functions and exploring the unique environment that nurtures creative innovation. His responsibilities at NID included learning key processes such as accessioning and presenting prototypes, which are vital for effective library management. He holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, where he was awarded the prestigious CUG Medal and the Smt. Shanta Karisiddappa Gold Medal. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications from the Central University of Odisha, Koraput. Beyond his academic and professional achievements, Sameer is deeply engaged in the arts as a theatre artist, having written and directed short plays and dramas. He is equally passionate about video editing, poster design, and organizing both official and cultural events.
Satyam Kumar
Membership officer
IIT Ropar, Punjab, India.
Satyam Kumar is currently working as a Library Professional Trainee at the Nalanda Library, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Punjab, India. He holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the Central University of Gujarat. He holds undergraduate degrees in Library & Information Science and Political Science, as well as a Diploma in Computer Applications. He has also gained valuable experience through an internship at IIT Delhi, India. Satyam actively contributes to professional communities and currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Activities Committee at SIG-LIB and the Communication Officer for SIG-IEP. Additionally, he volunteers with SIG-III, demonstrating his strong commitment to collaborative learning and knowledge sharing. He was the past Treasurer of the South Asia Chapter and the Webmaster at SIG-EduLearn. His areas of academic and professional interest include Cataloguing, Metadata, Digital Libraries, Knowledge Society, Library Software, and Hindi Literature. Apart from his scholarly pursuits, Satyam is an enthusiastic public speaker who has participated in and excelled in numerous speech competitions, winning many awards. He is an avid reader who enjoys exploring a wide range of literary genres and discovering new perspectives. He also has a passion for interviewing, hosting webinars, and listening to podcasts featuring inspirational and influential personalities.
Sourav Debnath
Past Chair
IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India
Sourav Debnath works as an Assistant Librarian at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India. Before joining IIT (ISM) Central Library, he was an Assistant Librarian at NIT Tiruchirappalli for four years. Sourav was a Junior Research Fellow at DRTC, ISI Bangalore, for a year after obtaining MLIS from the Central University of Gujarat. A recipient of the Indian Library Association's Dr. K Padma Umapathy and KS Umapathy student fellowship in Lib. & Info. Sc. He served the ASIS&T South Asia Chapter as a Social Media Manager and Secretary from 2018 to 2022. Besides volunteering as a treasurer for SIG-III, he loves reading autobiographies in his leisure time.
Naresh Agarwal
Chapter Advisor
Simmons University, Boston
Naresh Agarwal is a Professor and Director of the Information Science & Technology Concentration at the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University, Boston. He earned his Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore (NUS)'s Department of Information Systems, School of Computing. Naresh's research area is information behavior and knowledge management. His first book 'Exploring Context in Information Behavior' was published in 2018. His second book was published in 2021 as 'Engineering to Ikigai' in South Asia and 'You know the glory, not the story' internationally. He has been a keynote/invited speaker in several countries, including Bangladesh, France, India, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, the UK, and the US. Naresh is a Past President of ASIS&T. In 2012, he was awarded the ASIS&T James M. Cretsos Leadership Award. In 2018, he started projectonenessworld.com to gather human stories through interviews. You can learn more about Naresh at nareshagarwal.com.
Md. Anwarul Islam
Chapter Advisor
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Md. Anwarul Islam is a Professor at the Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He earned his PhD from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan. Additionally, he served as a VLIR-UOS fellow at the University of Antwerp, Belgium; an ACRC Fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and a Jacky McAleer Memorial Titular Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research interests lie with knowledge management, information behavior, social informatics and Informetrics. He has been a member of ASIS&T since 2015 and has served in various capacities. In the past, he served twice as a member of the membership committee, country representative, and communication officer in the Asia Pacific Chapter. Additionally, he has held roles as Co-Chair in SIG-III, Chair in SIG-KM, Chair in the South Asia Chapter, and jury chair in the Cretsos Leadership Award. He received the New Leaders Award in 2017, James M. Cretsos Leadership Award in 2021. Recently, he received the ASIS&T Louis Lunin Award in 2023. Currently, he is serving as an advisor to the South Asia Chapter, jury member for the Lois Lunin and SIG-Use award. .
Bhakti Gala
Chapter Advisor
Central University of Gujarat, India
Bhakti Gala is an Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, Central University of Gujarat. She is the Past-chair (2020-21) of the ASIS&T South Asia Chapter and the current Chair-elect of ASIS&T SIG-III. As Chair of the SA Chapter, she has been awarded the ASIS&T Special Chapter Project Fund leading a team of multilingual and multi-country members working on COVID-19 health information literacy. A winner of the 2014 ASIS&T SIG III International Paper Contest, her collaborative research work on financial information literacy through public libraries was further shortlisted as Finalist, 2019 Best Short Research Paper Award, at the iConference, Washington, DC, USA. She has worked on international research projects funded by OCLC/ALISE and her scholarly outputs have been shared through national and international journals and conferences. Bhakti is passionate about reading and equitable access to information through libraries and her specific research interests are Information literacy, Open Access Resources, Public Libraries, Information Behavior, Metadata, Digital Archives, and Digital Libraries.
PAST COMMITTEES
2024-2025 Officers
Chair: Sourav Debnath, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India
Chair-Elect: Md. Atikuzzaman, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh
Secretary: Sakeena Alikhan, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Treasurer: Satyam Kumar, Central University of Gujarat, India
Webmaster: Sameer Sahu, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
Communication Officer: Syamili C., University of Calicut, Kerala, India
Membership Officer: Jannatul Islam Muna, East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Past-Chair: Reshma Dangol, SAARC Secretariat, Nepal
Chapter Advisor: Naresh Agarwal, Simmons University, Boston
Chapter Advisor: Md. Anwarul Islam, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Chapter Advisor: Bhakti Gala, Central University of Gujarat, India
2023-2024 Officers
Chair: Reshma Dangol, SAARC Secretariat, Nepal
Chair-Elect: Sourav Debnath, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India
Secretary: Amara Malik, University of Punjab,Lahore, Pakistan
Treasurer: Md. Atikuzzaman, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh
Webmaster: Mohit Garg, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India
Communication Officer: Muhammad Tariq, COMSATS University, Lahore, Pakistan
Membership Officer: Rehana Kousar, University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
Past-Chair: Syeda Hina Batool, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Chapter Advisor: Naresh Agarwal, Simmons University, Boston
Chapter Advisor: Md. Anwarul Islam, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Chapter Advisor: Bhakti Gala, Central University of Gujarat, India
2022-2023 Officers
Chair: Syeda Hina Batool, University of the Punjab, New Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
Chair-Elect: Reshma Dangol, SAARC Secretariat (Nepal)
Secretary: Amara Malik, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Treasurer: Dr. Amjid Khan, Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan
Membership Officer: Sadaf Rafiq, Government College University (GCU) Lahore, Pakistan
Social Media Manager: Mallikarjun Dora, Vikram Sarabhai Library, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India
Country Representative: Fiza Batol Yousufi, Afghanistan
Past Chair: Dr. Ruwan Gamage, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Chapter Advisor: Naresh Agarwal, School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University, Boston
Chapter Advisor: Md. Anwarul Islam, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Chapter Advisor Bhakti Gala, Central University of Gujarat, India
2021-2022 Officers
Chair: Ruwan Gamage, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Chair-Elect: Syeda Hina Batool, University of the Punjab, New Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
Secretary: Sourav Debnath, NIT Tiruchirappalli, India
Treasurer: Prasadi Kanchana Jayasekara, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
Newsletter Officer and Webmaster: Manika Lamba, University of Delhi, India
Webmaster: Md. Monirul Islam, Army Medical College Chattogram, Bangladesh
Social Media Manager: Amara Malik, IIM, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Social Media Manager: Shona Akter, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Membership Officer: Kiran Sharma, BML Munjal University, India
Country Representative: Aminath Riyaz, Faculty of Arts, Maldives National University
Country Representative: Reshma Dangol, SAARC Secretariat (Nepal)
Past Chair: Bhakti Gala, Central University of Gujarat, India
Chapter Advisor: Md. Anwarul Islam, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Chapter Advisor: Naresh Agarwal, School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University, Boston
2020-2021 Officers
Chair: Bhakti Gala, Central University of Gujarat, India
Chair-elect: Ruwan Gamage, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Secretary: Sourav Debnath, National Institute of Technology (Tiruchirappalli), India
Treasurer: Shohana Akter, Librarian at Alliance Francaise de Dhaka
Newsletter Officer and Webmaster: Manika Lamba, University of Delhi, India
Webmaster: Muhammad Rafiq, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Social Media Manager: Syeda Hina Batool, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Country Representative: Aminath Riyaz, Maldives National University
Past Chair: Md. Anwarul Islam, University of Dhaka
Chapter Adviser: Naresh Agarwal, Simmons University, USA
2019 – 2020 Officers
Chair: Md. Anwarul Islam, University of the Dhaka, Bangladesh
Chair-elect: Bhakti Gala, Central University of Gujarat, India
Secretary: Ahasan Habib, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Bangladesh
Treasurer: Aminath Riyaz, Maldives National University
Webmaster: Muhammad Rafiq, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Social Media Manager: Sourav Debnath, Central Library of National Institute of Technology, India
Social Media Manager: Syeda Hina Batool, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Country Representative: Ruwan Gamage, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Past Chair: Kanwal Ameen, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Chapter Adviser: Naresh Agarwal, Simmons University, USA
2018 – 2019 Officers
Chair: Kanwal Ameen, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Chair-elect / Co-Chair: Md. Anwarul Islam, University of the Dhaka, Bangladesh
Secretary: Bhakti Gala, Central University of Gujarat, India
Treasurer: Aminath Riyaz, Maldives National University
Webmaster: Muhammad Rafiq, University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Social Media Manager: Mohammad Joynal Abdin, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Social Media Manager: Sourav Debnath, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirapalli, India
Chapter Adviser: Naresh Agarwal, Simmons University, USA