Naresh Chandra (1 August 1934 – 9 July 2017) was a 1956 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 ...

officer of the Rajasthan cadre who served as the

Cabinet Secretary of India The Cabinet Secretary (ISO:''मंत्रिमंडळ सचिव'') is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the Civil Services Boa ...

, Defence Secretary of India, Home Secretary of India, Water Resources Secretary of India and Indian Ambassador to the United States. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honour the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ( , lit. "Lotus Grandeur") 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 w ...

for

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in 2007.

Early life

Chandra was educated in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

and obtained a

postgraduate degree 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 ...

( MSc) in

Maths Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include num ...

from the

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

Career

Early career

Naresh Chandra served as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in the

before his selection as an

(IAS) officer.

Indian Administrative Service

Naresh Chandra served in various key capacities for both the

Government of Rajasthan The Government of Rajasthan is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Rajasthan and its districts of Rajasthan, 41 districts. It consists of an executive branch, led by the governor of Rajasthan, as well as judiciary and legis ...

and the Union Government, including as the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan, Commissioner and Secretary (Finance), Secretary (Industries) and Chairman of Rajasthan Electricity Board, and as the District Magistrate and Collector of

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

, Jhunjhunu and Bharatpur districts in the

, and as the

, Union Home Secretary, Union Defence Secretary, Union Water Resources Secretary, Joint Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industries of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Director in the secretariat of Third Central Pay Commission, Deputy Secretary in the secretariat of

Administrative Reforms Commission The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) is the commission appointed by the Government of India for giving recommendations for reviewing the public Public administration, administration system of India. The first ARC was established on 5 Jan ...

and as a Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture in the Union Government. Naresh Chandra also served as an Adviser to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 1986 for a duration of eight months. Chandra also served as Adviser (Export Industrialization and Policy) for the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

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, ...

. Post his superannuation from the service as the

, Chandra was appointed a Senior Adviser in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), and hence was deemed to have been reemployed into the IAS.

Chief Secretary of Rajasthan

Chandra was appointed the Chief Secretary of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, he assumed the office of the Chief Secretary on 22 July 1985, and demitted on 09 March 1986.

Water Resources Secretary of India

Chandra was appointed the Union Water Resources 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. he assumed the office on 1 February 1987, and demitted it on 1 February 1989, after serving for two years.

Defence Secretary of India

Chandra was appointed the Union Defence 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. he assumed the office of the Defence Secretary on 1 February 1989, and demitted it on 1 March 1990.

Home Secretary of India

Chandra was appointed the Union Home 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. he assumed the office of the Home Secretary on 1 March 1990, and demitted it on 1 December 1990.

Cabinet Secretary of India

Chandra was appointed the Union Cabinet 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. he assumed office of the Cabinet Secretary on 1 December 1990, and demitted it and simultaneously superannuated from service on 31 July 1992. As the

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

, Chandra was incharge and coordinator of India's nuclear programme,

Shekhar Gupta Shekhar Gupta (born 26 August 1957) is an Indian journalist and author. He is the founder and the current editor-in-chief of ''ThePrint''. He is also a columnist for the ''Business Standard'' and pens a weekly column which appears every Saturda ...

described him as the "Keeper of India's family silver".

After IAS

Governor of Gujarat

After his tenure in the PMO, Chandra was appointed the

Governor of Gujarat The governor of Gujarat is the nominal head of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor is appointed by the president of India and resides in Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar, Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar. Acharya Devvrat took charge as the 24th governo ...

by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) 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, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

, he assumed the office of Governor on 1 July 1995 and demitted it on 1 March 1996.

Ambassador of India to the United States of America

Chandra was appointed the Indian Ambassador to the United States by the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

in 1996, he was confirmed to the diplomatic position by the

President of the United States of America The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

in 1996, he remained as the Ambassador of India to the United States till 2001. Chandra's long official association with the United States spans more than three decades, beginning with his first visit to this country in 1963–64. He has been the Indian Co-chairman of the US-India Technology Group, and Member of the Indo-US Economic Sub-Commission, which lent him valuable insight into the broad range of Indo-US relations. Following the economic liberalisation program in India, he led the first official delegation to the US in 1992 to promote US investments in India. He has been deeply involved in several important conferences organised subsequently in the US by business development groups.

Post Ambassadorship

The government approved of setting up of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) on 9 January 2003, on the basis of recommendations made by the Naresh Chandra Committee which was set up by the government on 21 August 2002 on Corporate Governance. He also chaired the

Confederation of Indian Industry The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a Non-governmental organization, non-governmental business and industry organisation and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895. CII is a membership-based organisation. ...

(CII) Task Force on Corporate Governance which submitted its report in November 2009 for voluntary adoption by listed companies and wholly owned subsidiaries of listed companies in India.

His work in his words

‘Living in interesting times’ is how I would describe my tenure here. Something or the other has always been happening. There was a lot of interaction on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty when I first arrived here. 1997 was a ‘feel good’ time – we were celebrating 50 years of Independence - there were series of functions and events – in fact we had more functions in the U.S. than in India. The major challenge came in May 1998 - dealing with the nuclear test. I remember going from one studio to another – TV, radio, and press – in addition to dozens of meetings in the Senate and the Congress. That was the most difficult and a very challenging period of my tenure here. Then began the rounds of discussions between Indian delegation, led by Jaswant Singh, and the U.S. delegation led by Talbot. I was present in every meeting and throughout. We saw the scene develop from a very tense dialogue into a very friendly and frank exchange of views. This brought about stability and progress in a positive direction in our relations with the U.S. The Prime Minister's visit in September 1998 was also an important one. It dissipated the demonising of India that had gone on before his arrival. People saw him and heard him speak. His statement that "India and the U.S. can be natural allies in the 21st century" struck a chord in the U.S. administration. President Clinton's visit to India and then the return visit of the Indian Prime Minister put a feel on it. I witnessed a very fine chapter in the Indo-U.S. relations. A specific instance that I will remember of my tenure, is the establishment of Gandhi Memorial - Mahatma Gandhi's statue – in front of our Chancery building in Washington DC – and the way it was accomplished against heavy odds. We were able to have it up just in time to have it dedicated by the Prime Minister of India in the presence of the president of the United States on 16 September 2000. It was a great moment – for South Asians and Americans. I also received many messages from our friends in Pakistan – and the Pakistan Ambassador congratulated me and expressed her happiness at the establishment of the statue.

Death

Chandra died at a hospital in

Panaji Panaji (; , , )also known as Panjim, is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river est ...

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, India, of

multiple organ failure Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring immediate medical intervention. There are different stages of organ dysfunction for certain different organs, both in acute and in chronic ...

on 9 July 2017 at the age of 82.

Awards and recognition

* Chandra was conferred the

, India's second highest civilian honour, for

, in 2007.

References

External links

Executive Record Sheet as maintained by Department of Personnel and Training

Executive Profile at Bloomberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Naresh 1934 births 2017 deaths Indian civil servants People from Rajasthan Rajasthani people Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service Governors of Gujarat Ambassadors of India to the United States Cabinet Secretaries of India Indian Home Secretaries Defence Secretaries of India Deaths from multiple organ failure District magistrate