Family marks birth anniversary of Indian PhD student killed in UK road collision

London: The family and friends of an Indian PhD student who was tragically killed in a road collision in north London while she cycled back home from the London School of Economics (LSE) are on Saturday marking her birth anniversary with a series of commemorative events.

Cheistha Kochhar, 33, was a former NITI Aayog employee who was pursuing a first-year Master of Research (MRes) in Organisational Behaviour at the LSE when she died following a collision with a garbage truck on Clerkenwell Road on the evening of March 19 as she and her husband cycled home for dinner. 

Her family has been seeking answers in an appeal justice ever since that evening as investigations remain ongoing.

“It is frustrating for us to even come to grips with the enormity of this loss,” Cheistha’s father, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Dr S.P. Kochhar, said in a statement.

“The delay in investigations is disheartening. Sitting in India, we seek timely justice for Cheistha without any extraneous interventions or considerations. What has the driver lost? He is a free citizen as of now,” he said.

The Metropolitan Police had said at the time that no arrests were made in the case as the truck “stopped at the scene and the driver is helping police with their enquiries”.

On her first birth anniversary since the tragedy, remembrance services and prayer meetings are being held at different locations associated with Cheistha's illustrious academic and professional journey, including in Delhi at Satya Sai Centre and Youth India Fellowship (YIF), Ashoka University; Harris School, University of Chicago; and LSE in London.

The Department of Management at LSE announced the Cheistha Kochhar Master of Research Prize in her memory on Friday to be awarded as a recognition and cash prize from this December to a student who achieves the highest aggregate mark on the MRes 5 unit.

Those eligible for the prize are students on the Master of Research track in Organisational Behaviour, Employment Relations and Human Resources, and Marketing.   “During her time in the department and at LSE, Cheistha left a lasting impact on everyone she encountered. She is remembered within the department for her fierce intelligence, enduring kindness, and bright, positive energy. With her passing, the department and LSE lost a brilliant student and a promising scholar,” reads the LSE citation.

“This new award will ensure Cheistha’s legacy will continue to inspire future generations (of) MRes students for many years to come,” it said.

A series of other scholarships and awards have been constituted in her memory across India and abroad, including scholarships at the University of Chicago, the Cheistha Kochhar Freeship at Sri Venkateswara College in New Delhi and the Cheistha Kochhar Scholarship for two students at Manav School in Gurgaon.

Some of the commemorative awards are the Cheistha Kochhar Memorial Award at Ashoka University, Sonepat; the Cheistha Kochhar Running Trophy for best debater at Sri Venkateswara College, New Delhi; and Four Running trophies for middle and Senior School in Debating and Essay writing at Army School, Mhow. There is a proposed award for the best socially relevant project at TISS and a good Samaritan award by the think tank CDEP.

Meanwhile, the Indian School of Public Policy has rebranded the Anubhav Lecture Series to the Cheistha Kochhar Anubhav Lecture Series. The series was conceptualised by her as a former Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives at the Harris School of Public Policy and established in 2017 to bridge the skill gap for grassroots social impact leaders in South Asia.   Cheistha was born in Bareilly on  August 10, 1990, into an Army family and did her early schooling in Srinagar, Mhow, Bhatinda and New Delhi. After a series of professional qualifications and endeavours, at NITI Ayog, she founded the Nudge Unit and also worked closely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s LiFE (Lifestyle for the Environment) project.  She got married in December 2022 and joined LSE in September 2023 for a fully funded PhD programme in the Organisational Behaviour Department focussing on nudge theory implementation. At the time of her tragic death, she was also co-authoring two books. PTI AK GRS GRS GRS