Balmiki Prasad Singh
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Balmiki Prasad Singh (born 1 January 1942) was the 14th Governor of
Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
,
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 ...
. He is a retired
IAS officer The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the 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 Forest Service (IFS). ...
and has written books and articles relating to
Indian culture Indian culture is the heritage of social norms and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse nation of India, pertaining to the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and the Republic of India post-1947. ...
, in particular the culture of
North-East India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...
. Among his prominent books are ''Bahudha and the post 9/11 World'' and ''The problem of change: a study of North East India''.


Education and family background

Singh was born on 1 January 1942 in
Begusarai Begusarai is the industrial and financial capital of Bihar and the administrative headquarters of the Begusarai district, which is one of the 38 districts of the Indian state of Bihar. The district lies on the northern bank of the river Gan ...
,
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
. He was educated in a village school and later at the universities of
Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
and
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. He passed his M.A. in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from University of Patna in the age of nineteen. Singh was married to Karuna on 10 March 1961 at Patna while they were in their teens.


Administrative service

Singh was appointed in 1964 to the
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).A former IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Singh was posted in North Lakhimpur and Tezpur as a young district officer. He also held the posts of DC, Kamrup from 1973–75 and Home Commissioner, Assam from 1980-82. He had another stint in Assam from 1990-92 before being posted to Union Home Ministry. Over the past four decades, Shri B.P. Singh has held a variety of important positions within Assam as well as in the Government of India. He was Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forest (1993–95), Culture Secretary (1995–97) and Home Secretary (1997–99) in Government of India. After an incident involving the extension or resignation of the celebrated
Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service (IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Empire. Along with the Indian Admini ...
officer
Kishore Kunal Kishore Kunal (10 August 1950 – 29 December 2024), also known as Acharya Kunal, was a 1972 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Gujarat Cadre, from the state of Bihar, India. During his police career, he was appointed as the Officer o ...
, he was removed from the post of Home Secretary by the then Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...
who was displeased with his conduct and made the Health Secretary. During this tenure, a conflict again arose between Kunal and him when Singh did not grant regional cancer centre status to the charitable Mahavir Cancer Institute that Kunal had founded. Then Singh was removed again and sent to a World Bank assignment. B.P. Singh served as Executive Director and Ambassador at the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
during 1999-2002 representing
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 ...
,
Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
and
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and was one of the founder members of the Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) and member, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Washington D.C.


Career

*1964 Joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1964. Postings held in the Indian State of Assam during 1964-1975, Was S.D.O., North-Lakhimpur (1966–68), Joint Secretary appointment (1968–70), Deputy Commissioner, Darrang, Tezpur (1971–72) and Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup, Guwahati (1973–75). Became life Member of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) New Delhi; *1975-79 Deputy Secretary/Director, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, New Delhi; *1980-82 Secretary for all Departments under the Chief Secretary and also Home Secretary, Government of Assam; *1982-84 Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow. Was also member, Assam Planning Board during this period; *1984-89 Joint Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Steel and Mines, New Delhi. Was also Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Copper Limited for one year; *1989-90 Queen Elizabeth Fellow, Oxford University, U.K; *1990-92 Agricultural Production Commissioner and Special Commissioner and Special Secretary, Government of Assam, Agriculture. Panchayat and Rural Development, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department, Dispur, Guwahati. Was awarded Governor of Assam Gold Medal in 1991 for outstanding service in Assam; *1992-93 Joint Secretary and later Additional Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. Devised regional planning and Development models in tribal areas; *1993-95 Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, Chairman of the National Committee on Bio-diversity Conservation. Asia Representative on Ramar Convention on Wetlands, Gland, Switzerland. Director, Indian School of Forest Management, Bhopal for one year. Life Member of the Society for Promotion of Wasteland Development (SPWD), New Delhi; *1995-97 Union Culture Secretary. Became Life Member of the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) organized global level Golden Jubilee celebrations of India's Independence. Set up National Culture Fund; *1997-99 Union Home Secretary, Secretary, Justice, Government of India and Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Affairs, Government of India. Recipient of Gulzarilal Nanda Award for the year 1998 for outstanding public service in India from the President of India; *1999-99 Union Health Secretary *1999-02 Executive Director, The World Bank and its Affiliates representing India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Founder Member of the Board of Governors of Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) and member, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Washington D.C.; *2003-07 A variety of honorary academic and governmental assignments including (i) Chancellor of the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath (ii) Chief Editor of the South Asia Series on "Perspectives on Economics, Technology and Governnance" Oxford University Press, New York. (iii) Chairman, National Commission for Economically Backward Classes set up by Govt. of India: and (iv) Mahatma Gandhi National Fellow; Was honoured the first Man of Letters Award by the Dalai Lama on 11 June 2003 at New Delhi; *2008-13 Governor of Sikkim; Also President, Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok and Chancellor, Sikkim Manipal University; *2014 onwards B.P.Singh worked on a book "The 21st Century:Geo-politics, Democracy and Peace" being published by Routledge (New York & London, during 2017). Also working for promotion of science, culture and world peace. *Public speaker: have been accepting speaking assignments on subjects such as Peace, Democracy, Culture, Security, Ecology and Governance, within India and abroad.


Awards and fellowships

He has since been the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship (1982–84), Queen Elizabeth Fellowship (1989–90) and Mahatma Gandhi National Fellow (2007–08). He is also a recipient of Gulzari lal Nanda Award for Outstanding public service from the President of India in 1998 and Man of Letters Award from the Dalai Lama in 2003.


As academician and writer

B.P. Singh has authored six books including ''The Problem of Change-A Study of North-East India'' (1987); ''India’s Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond'' (1998) and ''Bahudha and the post-9/11 World'' (2008), all published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi. He has also published articles and monographs on politics, culture, ecology and public administration. He is Chief Editor of The Millennium Book on New Delhi, OUP (2001). B.P. Singh has also been Chancellor of the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath for six years and Chief Editor of the South Asia Series on "Perspectives on Economics, Technology and Governance" of Oxford University Press, New York (2000–06).


List of books authored

* The Problem of Change: A Study of North-East India,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
; * India's Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
; * Bahudha and the Post 9/11 World with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
; * The Indian National Congress and Cultural Renaissance, Allied Publishers, New Delhi; * Threads Woven: Ideals, Principles and Administration, Allied Publishers, New Delhi; * Our India, NCERT, New Delhi.


Edited books

* The Millennium Book on New Delhi,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.


Monographs

* The Challenge of Good Governance in India: Need for Innovative Approaches: Paper presented at the International Conference of Global Network of Innovators, organized by Ash Institute and JFK School of Govt,
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 ...
, March- April, 2008. * Would Terrorism become a thing of the past: When and How? Journal of Peace Studies, 2009. * Repositioning A Heritage: Raj Bhavan Gangtok, Information and Public Relations Department,
Government of Sikkim The Government of Sikkim also known as Sikkim Government or State Government of Sikkim, is the administrative executive authority of the Indian state of Sikkim and its Districts of Sikkim, 6 districts, created by the Constitution of India, Natio ...
, 2011. * Democracy, Ecology, and Culture-the Indian Experience, Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,
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 ...
.


See also

*
List of Indian writers This is a list of notable writers who come from 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 ...


References


Further reading

* Abracadabra Kalahari(2012-03-21). "Sikkim Governor reminisces on Assam". * "Amid China row, president, PM skip global Buddhist meet". The Times of India. 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2012-05-15. * Bedabrata Lahkar (2012-03-21). "Sikkim Governor reminisces on Assam". The Assam Tribune. Retrieved 2012-05-15. * The Problem of Change: A Study of North-East India, Oxford University Press (Authored by B.P. Singh); * India's Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond, Oxford University Press (Authored by B.P. Singh); * Bahudha and the Post 9/11 World with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Oxford University Press (Authored by B.P. Singh); * The Indian National Congress and Cultural Renaissance, Allied Publishers, New Delhi (Authored by B.P. Singh); * Threads Woven: Ideals, Principles and Administration, Allied Publishers, New Delhi (Authored by B.P. Singh); * Our India, NCERT, New Delhi (Authored by B.P. Singh).


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Balmiki Prasad 1942 births Living people Indian civil servants People from Begusarai Governors of Sikkim Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows National Defence College, India alumni