Ajay Narayan Jha (born 15 January 1959;

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: ) is a 1982 batch

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS) officer of

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

cadre. He was the Finance Secretary of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

for three months. He was appointed as the member of

Fifteenth Finance Commission The FifteenthFinance Commission (XV-FC or 15-FC) is an Indian Finance Commission constituted in November 2017 and is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters for fivefiscal years, commencing 2020-04-01. The commi ...

of India in place of

Shaktikanta Das Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is a retired People of India, Indian bureaucrat and Indian Administrative Service, IAS officer who served as the 25th List of Governors of Reserve Bank of India, governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Sinc ...

and served there till 26 November 2023. Thereafter, he was appointed as a member of

Sixteenth Finance Commission Sixteenth Finance Commission is the Finance Commission constituted by the Government of India under Article 280 of Constitution. Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as the Chief of the Commission with the main task of determining revenue shari ...

on 1 January 2024 and served their till 15 April 2025.

Education

Jha has BA (Honours) and MA in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from St. Stephen's College at

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, a

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

degree in executive development from

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and a certificate in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Career

Jha has served in various key positions for both the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

and the

Government of Manipur The Government of Manipur (; /mə.ni.pur lə́i.ŋak/), also known as the State Government of Manipur, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Manipur and its 16 districts. It consists of an ex ...

, like as

Principal Secretary Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Servi ...

(Finance),

(Environment and Forests), chairman of Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency (MREDA),

principal secretary Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Servi ...

to the

Chief Minister of Manipur The Chief Minister of Manipur is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Manipur. As per the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive auth ...

, secretary to the

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

, and as the deputy commissioner and district magistrate of

Ukhrul Ukhrul District( Tangkhul pronunciation:/ˈuːkˌɹəl or ˈuːkˌɹʊl/ is one of the hilly disctrict in the state of Manipur, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries an ...

and

Churachandpur Churachandpur ( IPA: ''/tʃʊRVːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/),'' locally known as Lamka is the second largest town in the Indian state of Manipur and the district headquarters of the Churachandpur district. The name "Churachandpur" was transferred from ...

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

in the

Manipur government The Government of Manipur (; /mə.ni.pur lə́i.ŋak/), also known as the State Government of Manipur, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Manipur and its 16 districts. It consists of an ex ...

, and as Union Expenditure Secretary, Union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary, special secretary in Department of Expenditure of the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, joint secretary and financial adviser in Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, and as joint secretary and financial adviser in Ministry of Law and Justice. Jha also served as consultant to

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(UNESCAP). In addition, Jha served as the secretary of Fourteenth Finance Commission, a deputy election commissioner in the

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

, and as Joint Secretary (Administration) in the

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi is a premier government-funded arts organization in India. It is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Culture. History The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts was ...

, on deputation, under rule 6(2)(ii) of the ''Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1956''.

Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary

Jha was appointed as the Union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary by the

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) is a high-level committee within the Government of India responsible for appointing senior officials to key positions in the central government and public sector undertakings. and demitted it on 10 October 2017.

Expenditure Secretary

Jha was appointed as the Union Expenditure Secretary by the

Ashok Lavasa Ashok Lavasa (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) (born 21 October 1957) is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Haryana cadre and was one of the two Election Commissioner of India, Election Comm ...

, he was made

officer on special duty Officer on Special Duty (OSD), or Special Duties Officer, is an officer post in the civil services in Brunei, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Brunei Special Duties Officer (Pegawai Tugas-Tugas Khas) is an officer level of Brunei Daruss ...

(OSD), in the rank of secretary, till Lavasa's retirement. Jha assumed the office of secretary on 31 October 2017. During his tenure as the Union Expenditure Secretary, Jha has been regarded as one of the most important people in the

References

External links

Biography
at

Finance Commission The Finance Commissions (IAST: ''Vitta Jayga'') are commissions periodically constituted by the President of India under ''Article 280'' of the Indian Constitution to define the financial relations between the central government of India and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jha, Ajay Narayan 1959 births Living people Harvard Kennedy School alumni Indian Administrative Service officers People from Bihar McGill University alumni St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni