OdishaPlus Bureau
Pramod Kumar Mishra has taken charge as the new Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mishra (71), a retired 1972-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, took over his new assignment on Wednesday.
Mishra was the additional principal secretary to the prime minister and was holding the rank of a Cabinet minister. He succeeds Nripendra Misra who stepped down recently.He is the first Odia IAS Officer to head this top post in Prime Minister’s Office(PMO).
He has varied work experience in the management of programs relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector, infrastructure financing, and regulatory issues and has an outstanding career profile comprising research, publications, policy formulation and program/project management.
Similarly, Mishra has vast experience in policy making and administration and handled major assignments such as Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister; Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India; Chairman, State Electricity Regulatory Commission and in the area of Disaster management.
As Secretary Agriculture & Cooperation, he was actively involved in path-breaking national initiatives such as the National Agriculture Development Program (RKVY) and the National Food Security Mission (NFSM).
Mishra as the Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister during 2014-19 is credited with introducing innovation and transformative changes in human resource management, particularly appointments to senior positions, official sources said.
His international experience includes research and academic work for over four years at the Institute of Development Studies (UK), negotiation and execution of ADB and World Bank projects, member of the Governing Board of the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and participation as expert/resource person in several international conference
PK Mishra has a Ph.D in Economics/Development Studies from the University of Sussex, M.A. in Development Economics at the University of Sussex as also M.A. in Economics with a first class at the Delhi School of Economics. He did BA Economics Honours with a first class and distinction in other subjects from Gangadhar Meher College in 1970.
Mishra has to his credit numerous publications. His publications include ‘The Kutch Earthquake 2001: Recollection Lessons and Insights’ published by National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi. His other book ‘Agricultural Risk, Insurance and Income: A Study of the Impact and Design of India’s Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme’ has been published by Avebury, UK (1996).
He has also edited Development and Operation of Agricultural Insurance Schemes in Asia, Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo, Japan (1999). A regular contributor of articles and reviews to many international journals, they have received wide appreciation.
Recently, he was conferred with the United Nations SASAKAWA Award 2019, the most prestigious international award in disaster management.