Narinder Nath Vohra (born 5May1936), popularly referred as N. N. Vohra, is a retired 1959batch

Indian Administrative Service 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 ...

(IAS) officer of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

cadre who was the 12thgovernor of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. He was the first civilian governor of Jammu and Kashmir in eighteenyears after Jagmohan. As an IAS officer, Vohra has also served as

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (PS to the PM) is the senior-most bureaucrat in, and the administrative head of, the Prime Minister's Office. The officeholder is generally a civil servant, commonly from the Indian Adminis ...

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

of India,

Defence Secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

of India and Defence Production Secretary of India. From February2003 until he became the governor of the state, Vohra had been the Government of India's interlocutor in Jammu and Kashmir. 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 his contributors to the field civil service, in 2007.

Education

Vohra is a

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

( MA) and topper in English from

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

. Vohra also was a

visiting fellow In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

Queen Elizabeth House Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Career

Before IAS

Before being appointed 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 ...

, Vohra served as lecturer in the

As an IAS officer

Vohra served in key positions for both the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

and the Government of Punjab, such as Secretary (Home), Commissioner and Secretary (Industries), Finance Commissioner, Commissioner (Urban Development), Secretary (Urban Development), Punjab's labour commissioner, Director (Information) and as Director (

Panchayati Raj The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...

) in the Government of Punjab; as Union Home Secretary, Union Defence Secretary, Union Defence Production Secretary, additional secretary in the Department of Defence of the Ministry of Defence,

joint secretary Joint Secretary to Government of India (often abbreviated as JS, GoI or Union Joint Secretary or Joint Secretary to Union of India) is a post under the Central Staffing Scheme and the third highest non-political executive rank in Government of I ...

in the

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India. The Minister of Health and Family Welfare ...

and as an area organiser in the Cabinet Secretariat in the

. Vohra also served as a consultant to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

Defence Production Secretary

Vohra was appointed Union Defence Production Secretary by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), he assumed the office of Defence Production Secretary on 1May1989, and remitted it on 1March1990.

Defence Secretary

Vohra was appointed Union Defence Secretary by ACC, he assumed the office of

on 1March1990, and demitted it on 1April1993, serving for more than three years.

Home Secretary

N. N. Vohra was appointed Union Home Secretary by ACC after the 1993Bombay serial bomb blasts, he assumed the office of

on 1April1993, and demitted it and simultaneously superannuated from service on 31May1994.

Post Retirement

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

N. N. Vohra was appointed

Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician and freedom activist who served as the 12th prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by nationalist ...

, and the administrative head of Prime Minister's Office by ACC in June1997, he assumed the office of principal secretary on 1July1997, and demitted it on 19March1998.

India’s special representative for carrying out the Jammu and Kashmir dialogue

N. N. Vohra was appointed India's interlocutor for carrying out the Jammu and Kashmir dialogue by the Government of India in 2003, he remained as India's interlocutor till 2008, when he was appointed

Governor of Jammu and Kashmir The governor of Jammu and Kashmir was the head of the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir. When India became independent, Hari Singh was the Maharaja of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. Technically he remained so until 17 November 1952, al ...

. As the interlocutor, Vohra had been holding wide-ranging discussions with both the elected representatives in the state and also the separatists in a bid to forge a common ground for the all-round development of the state.

Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

Vohra was appointed

(J&K) by

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 Mur ...

in 2008, his first act as the governor of J&K was to rescind the controversial Amarnath shrine land transfer order. Vohra was reappointed the

governor of Jammu and Kashmir The governor of Jammu and Kashmir was the head of the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir. When India became independent, Hari Singh was the Maharaja of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. Technically he remained so until 17 November 1952, al ...

by the president of India in 2013. Vohra retired from the position of governor in August2018 and was replaced by Satya Pal Malik, a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

politician and a former

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the states of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. Vohra ruled Jammu and Kashmir directly four times (

governor's rule In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional ...

) during his tenure as governor, with his tenure as state governor being widely seen to be a positive one.

Awards and recognition

* Vohra was conferred the

, India's second highest civilian honour, for his contributions to the field of civil service, in 2007.

Selected bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

* * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vohra, Narinder 1936 births Living people Punjabi people Governors of Jammu and Kashmir Vohra, Narinder Nath Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service Indian Home Secretaries Indian Administrative Service officers Defence Secretaries of India Alumni of the University of Oxford Panjab University alumni Panjab University faculty District magistrate