Naresh Chandra (1 August 1934 – 9 July 2017) was a 1956 batch
IAS officer
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
of Rajasthan cadre, who served as the
Cabinet Secretary of India,
Defence Secretary of India
The Defence Secretary (IAST: ''Rakṣā Saciva'') is the administrative head of the Ministry of Defence. This post is held by a senior Indian Administrative Service of the rank of secretary to the Government of India. The current Defence Secreta ...
,
Home Secretary of India
The Home Secretary (IAST: ''Gṛha Saciva'' ''गृह सचिव'') is the administrative head of the Ministry of Home Affairs. This post is held by a very senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. The current Home ...
,
Water Resources Secretary of India and
Indian Ambassador to the United States.
He was awarded India's second highest
civilian honour, the
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...
, for
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, in 2007.
Early life
Chandra was educated in
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administra ...
and obtained a
postgraduate degree (
MSc) in
Maths from the
Allahabad University
, mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees"
, established =
, type = Public
, chancellor = Ashish Chauhan
, vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava
, head_label ...
.
Career
Before IAS
Naresh Chandra served as a
lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...
in the
Allahabad University
, mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees"
, established =
, type = Public
, chancellor = Ashish Chauhan
, vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava
, head_label ...
before his selection as an
IAS officer
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
.
As an IAS officer
Naresh Chandra served in various key capacities for both the Government of Rajasthan and the Union Government,
like as the
Chief Secretary of
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...
, Commissioner and Secretary (Finance), Secretary (Industries) and Chairman of Rajasthan Electricity Board, and as the District Magistrate and Collector of
Jodhpur
Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...
,
Jhunjhunu
Jhunjhunu is a city and capital of Jhunjhunu district in the state of Rajasthan. This city is in the northern state of Rajasthan, India and the administrative headquarters of Jhunjhunu District.
History
Jhunjhunu is a very old and historical ...
and
Bharatpur districts in the
Government of Rajasthan
The Government of Rajasthan is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Rajasthan and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Rajasthan, a judiciary and a legislative. Jaipur is the capital of Raja ...
,
and as the
Cabinet Secretary of India,
Union Home Secretary,
Union Defence Secretary,
Union Water Resources Secretary,
Joint Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industries of the
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Director in the secretariat of
Third Central Pay Commission, Deputy Secretary in the secretariat of
Administrative Reforms Commission
The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) is the committee appointed by the Government of India for giving recommendations for reviewing the public administration system of India. The first ARC was established on 5 January 1966.[Union Government
The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...]
.
Naresh Chandra also served as an Adviser to the
Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 1986 for a duration of eight months.
Chandra also served as Adviser (Export Industrialization and Policy) for the
Commonwealth Secretariat
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...
in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Post his superannuation from the service as the
Cabinet Secretary of India,
Chandra was appointed as a Senior Adviser in the
Prime Minister's Office (PMO),
and hence was deemed to have been reemployed into the
IAS.
Chief Secretary of Rajasthan
Chandra was appointed as the
Chief Secretary of
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...
by the
Chief Minister of Rajasthan,
he assumed the office of the Chief Secretary on 1 July 1985,
and demitted on 1 March 1986.
Water Resources Secretary of India
Chandra was appointed as the
Union Water Resources Secretary by the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India.
The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (''ex-officio'' Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs. Originally the Minist ...
(ACC),
he assumed the office on 1 February 1987,
and demitted it on 1 February 1989,
after serving for two years.
Defence Secretary of India
Chandra was appointed as the
Union Defence Secretary by the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India.
The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (''ex-officio'' Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs. Originally the Minist ...
(ACC),
he assumed the office of the Defence Secretary on 1 February 1989,
and demitted it on 1 March 1990.
Home Secretary of India
Chandra was appointed as the
Union Home Secretary by the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India.
The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (''ex-officio'' Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs. Originally the Minist ...
(ACC),
he assumed the office of the Home Secretary on 1 March 1990,
and demitted it on 1 December 1990.
Cabinet Secretary of India
Chandra was appointed as the
Union Cabinet Secretary by the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India.
The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (''ex-officio'' Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs. Originally the Minist ...
(ACC),
he assumed office of the Cabinet Secretary on 1 December 1990,
and demitted it and simultaneously
superannuated from service on 1 December 1990.
As the
Cabinet Secretary, Chandra was incharge and coordinator of
India's nuclear programme,
Shekhar Gupta described him as the "Keeper of India's family silver".
After IAS
Governor of Gujarat
After his tenure in the
PMO,
Chandra was appointed as the
Governor of Gujarat by the
President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...
,
he assumed the office of Governor on 1 July 1995 and demitted it on 1 March 1996.
Ambassador of India to the United States of America
Chandra was appointed as the
Indian Ambassador to the United States by the
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
in 1996,
he was confirmed to the diplomatic position by the
President of the United States of America in 1996,
he remained as the Ambassador of India to the United States till 2001.
Chandra's long official association with the United States spans more than three decades, beginning with his first visit to this country in 1963–64.
He has been the Indian Co-chairman of the US-India Technology Group, and Member of the Indo-US Economic Sub-Commission, which lent him valuable insight into the broad range of Indo-US relations.
Following the economic liberalisation program in India, he led the first official delegation to the US in 1992 to promote US investments in India.
He has been deeply involved in several important conferences organised subsequently in the US by business development groups.
Post Ambassadorship
The government approved of setting up of
Serious Fraud Investigation Office
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is a statutory corporate fraud investigating agency in India. Initially, it was set up by a resolution adopted by the Government of India on 2 July 2003 and carried out investigations within the exist ...
(SFIO) on 9 January 2003, on the basis of recommendations made by the Naresh Chandra Committee which was set up by the government on 21 August 2002 on Corporate Governance. He also chaired the
Confederation of Indian Industry
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895.
CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape globa ...
(CII) Task Force on Corporate Governance which submitted its report in November 2009 for voluntary adoption by listed companies and wholly owned subsidiaries of listed companies in India.
His work in his words
‘Living in interesting times’ is how I would describe my tenure here. Something or the other has always been happening. There was a lot of interaction on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty when I first arrived here. 1997 was a ‘feel good’ time – we were celebrating 50 years of Independence - there were series of functions and events – in fact we had more functions in the U.S. than in India. The major challenge came in May 1998 - dealing with the nuclear test. I remember going from one studio to another – TV, radio, and press – in addition to dozens of meetings in the Senate and the Congress. That was the most difficult and a very challenging period of my tenure here. Then began the rounds of discussions between Indian delegation, led by Jaswant Singh, and the U.S. delegation led by Talbot. I was present in every meeting and throughout. We saw the scene develop from a very tense dialogue into a very friendly and frank exchange of views. This brought about stability and progress in a positive direction in our relations with the U.S.
The Prime Minister's visit in September 1998 was also an important one. It dissipated the demonising of India that had gone on before his arrival. People saw him and heard him speak. His statement that "India and the U.S. can be natural allies in the 21st century" struck a chord in the U.S. administration. President Clinton's visit to India and then the return visit of the Indian Prime Minister put a feel on it. I witnessed a very fine chapter in the Indo-U.S. relations.
A specific instance that I will remember of my tenure, is the establishment of Gandhi Memorial - Mahatma Gandhi's statue – in front of our Chancery building in Washington DC – and the way it was accomplished against heavy odds. We were able to have it up just in time to have it dedicated by the Prime Minister of India in the presence of the president of the United States on 16 September 2000. It was a great moment – for South Asians and Americans. I also received many messages from our friends in Pakistan – and the Pakistan Ambassador congratulated me and expressed her happiness at the establishment of the statue.
Death
Chandra died at a hospital in
Panaji
Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary i ...
,
Goa, India, of
multiple organ failure on 9 July 2017 at the age of 82.
Awards and recognition
* Chandra was conferred the
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...
, India's second highest
civilian honour, for
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, in 2007.
References
External links
Executive Record Sheet as maintained by Department of Personnel and TrainingExecutive Profile at Bloomberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Naresh
1934 births
2017 deaths
Indian civil servants
People from Rajasthan
Rajasthani people
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service
Governors of Gujarat
Ambassadors of India to the United States
Cabinet Secretaries of India
Indian Home Secretaries
Defence Secretaries of India
Deaths from multiple organ failure
District magistrate