• Local democracy and governance
• Programme evaluation and effects frameworks
• Grant making and assessment
• Rural livelihoods and sustainable agriculture
• Civil society strengthening

Zulfiquar is the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Ranchi Campus and Director — School of Continuing Education.

Over the last one decade, Zulfiquar lead on Programmes and Strategy for the Philanthropy arm of Azim Premji Foundation and Co-led the Centre for Local Democracy. He has been working on setting up the effort on continuing education for the social and development sector.

He has led and established large-scale programmes and organisations focused on sustainable livelihoods, rural development, and decentralised democratic governance. A strong advocate of decentralised participatory planning, citizen voice and participation, constitutional values, and the rights and knowledge systems of indigenous communities, he has also overseen local elections and promoted farmers’ collectives and cooperatives. He has built programmes and institutions around knowledge and capacity building of government and civil society in India and Afghanistan. 

He has also worked on country level programmes and strategy for multilateral organisations and government. 

Zulfiquar holds an MPA from Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, an MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Sciences — The Hague, with a Major in Agriculture and Rural Development, and a B‑Tech from Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay. He has also been a fellow at the Ash Institute of Democracy, Harvard University.