BHUBANESWAR: Gujarat cadre IAS officer Pramod Kumar Mishra on Wednesday took charge as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. He is the first Odia to be appointed to the top post. A native of Sambalpur, he replaces senior bureaucrat Nripendra Misra, who stepped down on August 30.
Earlier, Mishra was Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and also held posts like Agriculture and Cooperation Secretary and Chairman of State Electricity Regulatory Commission. A 1972 batch IAS officer, Mishra has varied work experience in the management of programmes relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector, infrastructure financing and regulatory issues besides policy formulation and project management.
As Agriculture and Cooperation Secretary, he is credited for working on National Food Security Mission. When Mishra was Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister during 2014-19, he is stated to have hand-picked key officials in the Modi dispensation.
Odia IAS P K Mishra Principal Secy to PM
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). Recently, he was conferred with the United Nations SASAKAWA Award 2019, the most prestigious international award in disaster management.
Mishra has a PhD in Economics/ Development Studies and MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex and also MA in Economics with a first class at the Delhi School of Economics. He graduated from GM College (Sambalpur University) in 1970 in first class with distinction in Economics. He was the only one to get a first class in Economics among all the universities of Odisha. He has several national and international publications to his credit. He edited Development and Operation of Agricultural Insurance Schemes in Asia, Asian Productivity Organisation, Tokyo, in 1999.
Appointment hailed
Sambalpur: The news of appointment of Pramod Kumar Mishra as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought cheer among residents of Sambalpur. Mishra’s childhood friend and former Sambalpur Lok Sabha member Bhabani Shankar Hota said it is not only a matter of pride for Sambalpur and Western Odisha but also for the entire State. Similar sentiments were echoed by Sambalpur-based writer Deepak Panda. He said it is a historic day for Sambalpur. Vice Chancellor of Gangadhar Meher University Atanu Pati said Mishra is an inspiration for students of the institution. Pati said Mishra had started a debating society, ‘Quest’, in the university and was its secretary.