Amitabh Rajan

Amitabh Rajan is an Indian Administrative Service officer of Maharashtra cadre and the former Home Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. He headed the Reserve Bank of India Services Board as its Chairman from 2018-2022, and was also an Independent Director in the Board of the State Trading Corporation of India. He has made significant contributions to the fields of Sociology, Economics, and Jurisprudence.

Early life and education

Rajan holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Master of Arts in Modern History and a Doctorate in Sociological Jurisprudence from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Career

Rajan started his civil service career by joining the Indian administrative service in 1979. As a career bureaucrat, he served the State Government of Maharashtra and the Government of India, in various capacities. With the Government of Maharashtra and Government of India, Rajan has held very senior positions in the areas of Internal Security, Finance, Power Sector Regulation, Corporate Governance and Investment Commission. He held the charge of the Additional Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary, Government of Maharashtra.
As Maharashtra's Home Secretary, Rajan headed "Operation X", the hanging of the terrorist Ajmal Kasab. Rajan also gave sanction to prosecute Zabiuddin Ansari in the Aurangabad Arms Haul Case, on the strength of which Abu Jundal was convicted to life imprisonment by the Special Court.
Rajan established the Maharashtra Police Establishment Board, and was responsible for the selection of various Police Commissioners and Director Generals in the State of Maharashtra, including two Police Commissioners of Mumbai, and Police Commissioners of Pune, Thane, etc.
He chaired several high-powered committees, including the committee setup to improve the low conviction rate in Maharashtra, which improved state-level conviction-rate in the next calendar year, and the committee setup by the Bombay High Court to improve traffic congestion in Mumbai City.
Rajan served as the Additional Secretary (Revenue) in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance from 29 November 2011 to 13 March 2012. He also held the additional charge of Director Enforcement. Prior to this, he served as the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Personnel from 2010 to 2011.
From 2006 to 2011, he served as the Principal Secretary and Investment Commissioner to the Government of Maharashtra, and was the Chairman and Managing Director of a National Finance and Development Corporation from 2001 to 2006. Prior to this, he has served the Government of India in various capacities, as the Secretary to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Director of Finance, the Deputy Secretary, and District Magistrate for Jalgaon and Nanded districts in Maharashtra.
He has represented India in various international venues, including at the 2012 Ministerial Conference of Paris Pact, where he led the Indian delegation in the absence of the Union Finance Minister. He also led the Indian delegation at SAARC summits in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
He has also held memberships in the Council of Administration, International Institute of Administrative Sciences, Brussels, the Governing Council of the Asian Group of Public Administration, Beijing, and the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration & Management, London. His biographical entry has been included in the INFA Annual Publication "India: Who’s Who" since 2002, under the Finance category. He is also the Honorary President of The International Chamber of Professional Education and Industry

Corporate and establishment boards

Corporate Boards

Chairman, Reserve Bank of India
Member, Independent Committee on Stressed Assets, State Bank of India
Independent Director, State Trading Corporation of India
Chairman, Nomination and Remuneration Committee, State Trading Corporation of India
Chairman, Board of Directors, Maharashtra State Security Corporation
Chairman, Board of Directors, Maharashtra Police Housing Corporation
Chairman and Managing Director, National SC Finance and Development Corporation
Member, Board of Directors, National BC Finance and Development Corporation
Member, Board of Directors, National Handicapped Finance Corporation
Member, Board of Directors, National Jute Manufacturers Corporation, Ltd.

Establishment Boards

Chairman, Maharashtra Police Establishment Board
Member, State Civil Services Board for IAS officers
Member, State Civil Services Board for IFS officers

Academic Councils

Member, Advisory Board, Symbiosis School of Banking and Finance, Pune
Member, Academic Council, Institute of Technology and Science, Ghaziabad
Member, Academic Advisory Board, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, Mumbai
Member, Academic Advisory Board, GL Bajaj Institute of Management and Research, Greater Noida

Books, articles, interviews and talks

Rajan has written several books, including "Administrative Ethics: A Conceptual Framework", "Ethical Dimensions of Administrative Power", "Sociology of Human Rights" and "Explorations in Local History and Literature". He has also authored over 15 research articles including the publications in Indian Journal of Public Administration: "Information Rights: A Jurisprudential Audit" and "Jurisprudence of Children’s Rights", and the publications in All India Reporter: "Evolution of Information Rights Jurisprudence", and "Jurisprudential Strength of Children’s Rights". As an authority on the Maharashtra Police, he was invited to write the introductory commentary on the book "The Maharashtra Police Act" by All India Reporter.
Rajan has also written several articles in the field of Finance, including “The Institutional Identity of India’s NITI Aayog”, “India’s Fourteenth Finance Commission: A SWOT-Analysis”, “Neoliberalism and After: Scope and Limits of Interest Group Representations in Public Finance Decisions”, and "Techno-economic Aspects of Modernization of Police Forces in India".
Rajan has given various invited talks -- "Techno-economic aspects of Modernization of Police Forces in India", "Administrative Identity of Regulation in India", and "New Public Management Model: A Critique. Public Administration" -- to name a few.
Books

Administrative Ethics: A Conceptual Framework
Ethical Dimensions of Administrative Power
Sociology of Human Rights, 2002
Explorations in Local History and Literature, 1985

Articles

Role of Innovation, Creation and Integration in Institution Building for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Administrative Theory of Regulation: The Indian Scenario
Institutional Dynamics of Governance Reforms in India
The Institutional Identity of India’s NITI Aayog
India’s Fourteenth Finance Commission: A SWOT-Analysis
Neoliberalism and After: Scope and Limits of Interest Group Representations in Public Finance Decisions
The Maharashtra Police Act
Evolution of Information Rights Jurisprudence
Jurisprudential Strength of Children’s Rights
Information Rights: A Jurisprudential Audit
Jurisprudence of Children’s Rights

Invited Talks and Public Lectures

Adoption of Technologies for Business Growth: The Post-2008 Era
Institutional Adoption of Fintech Innovations
Political Economy Since the Year 2008: Global Trends and Policy Options for Nations
Banking and Finance in the Post-2008 Era
Conceptualizing Sustainability for IR 4.0
Genesis and Evolution of the Reserve Bank of India
Technovation: The Way Forward
BFSI: Vision 2022 for India on the Next Steps
Building Resilience for Growth in the Manufacturing Sector
Enterprise Development in the Post-2008 World
Digital Transformation of the Post-2008 Financial World
Ethics of Prudence for the BFSI Sector: The Road Ahead
Strategies for Future of People and Work
Strategies for the Future of People & Work
Redefining Governance for India’s BFSI Sector
Ethics of Prudence for the BFSI Sector: The Road Ahead
Dynamics of Sovereign Will-Formation in Democracies
Emerging Dimensions of Regulatory Ethics in Banking
Elements of Innovation, Integration and Creation in Management
Transforming Governance with Emerging Technologies
The Ethical Dimensions of Entrepreneurship
Corporate Expectations from Young Managers
Non-banking Financial Companies in India: A SWOT Analysis
Institutional Foundations for FinTech in India
Techno-Financial Dimensions of The Ayushman Bharat Initiative
Techno-Financial Prospects for India's Non-Banking Financial Corporations
Addressing the gathering in I.T.S Digital Conclave-2017
An Address to the Rajasthan Administrative Service officers, 2017
The Dynamics of Internal Security in India: A Federal Perspective
The Institutional Politics of Anti-Corruption
Steps to Counter Asia's Security Threats Discussed
The Institutional Politics of Anti-Corruption
Discussion on Internal security by Dr. Amitabh Rajan & Shri M.L. Kumawat
Techno-economic Aspects of Modernization of Police Forces in India
Administrative Identity of Regulation in India
New Public Management Model: A Critique. Public Administration

Interviews

In conversation with Dr Amitabh Rajan, Chairman, Reserve Bank of India
Prospects of e-governance for India‘s internal security
A Q&A with Dr. Amitabh Rajan on the Plan for Every Child Initiative
Keeping news of Ajmal Kasab hanging under wraps was biggest challenge: Amitabh Rajan
In Maharashtra, the biggest threat is from the sea… security in terms of coast guard needs improvement