Rajiv Gauba (born 15 August 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 retired Indian

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

and IAS officer 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 ...

from 30 August 2019 to 30 August 2024. As of March 2025, he serves as a full time member of

NITI Aayog The NITI Aayog (; abbreviation for National Institution for Transforming India) serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of the Republic of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and foste ...

, the Indian Government's apex public policy think tank. He served for five years as

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 ...

making him longest serving cabinet secretary in history his tenure as the Cabinet Secretary of India has been extended 4 times by 1 year durations by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) which is chaired 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 ...

Education

Gauba has a

graduate 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 ...

and is a gold medalist in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

( BSc) from Patna Science College,

Patna University Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern e ...

Career

In a career spanning over four decades, Rajiv Gauba has worked in several important positions in 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 ...

, the

Government of Bihar Bihar Government is the State governments of India, state government of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Bihar and its nine Divisions of Bihar, divisions which consist of Districts of Bihar, districts. It consists of an execut ...

and the

Government of Jharkhand The Government of Jharkhand also known as the State Government of Jharkhand, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Jharkhand and its Districts of Jharkhand, 24 districts. It consists of an exec ...

. Prior to his appointment as

, i.e., the head of civil services in India, he served with distinction as the Union Home Secretary, Union Urban Development Secretary, and the Chief Secretary of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

. Gauba, as a young officer and a loyal civil servant handled the Anti-Sikh riots in October/November 1984. He worked as Deputy Development Commissioner in the predominantly tribal Dumka district. Gauba had a tenure of nearly six years as district magistrate and collector first in

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

, then

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...

and in Gaya. His handling of elections won him notable praise in the difficult elections held in

in 1994 & 1995 and Gaya in 1996. In 1996, Gauba moved on deputation to the Government of India, first being posted as Director in

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Government of India, Indian government Ministry (government department), ministry. The ministry Portfolio (government), portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union ...

. Gauba was later appointed the Private Secretary (Chief of Staff) to the then Raksha Mantri (Union Defense Minister) Mr. George Fernandes. In this role he helped run the very strategic office at a time when India acquired nuclear capability and won the Kargil war. For his keen grasp of international economics & policy issues, Gauba was selected for the prestigious post of Sr. Adviser to ED, India,

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...

based in Washington. The period 2002-03 was a crucial one for relations between India and the IMF. India agreed to participate in the Financial Transaction Plan of the IMF in late 2002 i.e., it became a creditor to the IMF and has continued to remain a creditor since then. Selection of India by IMF as member of the FTP, for the first time in 2002, sent strong signals regarding the country’s strength and resilience of its external sector to the international community. Gauba returned to the Union Government in 2009 as Joint Secretary in the

where he set up the National Mission on Clean Ganga. As Additional Secretary in

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) is an executive agency of the Government of India, Union Government of the India, Republic of India. It was carved out of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (I ...

, Gauba oversaw the implementation of the National E-Governance Plan. Later as Additional Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Gauba was the architect of National Action Plan to combat Left Wing Extremism which has helped to significantly contain this major internal security challenge.

Chief Secretary of Jharkhand

Gauba was appointed the Chief Secretary of the

by the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 20 January 2015. As one of the youngest Chief Secretaries, Gauba set about on an ambitious agenda which involved changing the way the governance system worked. The

saw a major downsizing, bringing down the number of departments.

was a state of immense potential but had belied hopes. Gauba spearheaded a number of initiatives, the most notable among them being tackling this problem through a combination of proactive policing, and developmental outreach. Young officers were posted as DMs and SPs and improve the reach of police & Government administration. CAPF and State Police camps were established in remote areas and Roads & Bridges were built to promote development. These culminated in significant shrinking of the area under LWE influence. As an industrial state

offered immense potential. To realize this, Ease of Doing Business reforms were carried out in true earnest and in World Bank’s Ease of Bizassessment,

leapfrogged to the third position from almost the bottom of the list in 2016. This was done by removing archaic legislations like Agricultural Market Cess and Boiler Room Inspections among others, and by introducing positive changes by way of Labor Reforms. Initial reforms in

were viewed with skepticism yet the ethos of governance changed from a negative obstructionist approach and to a positive enabling environment. Gauba left the state when he was appointed as a

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

in the

Urban Development Secretary

Gauba was appointed as the Union Urban Development 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. Gauba drove interventions aimed at addressing the huge infrastructure deficit in Indian cities/urban areas with focus on water supply, sewerage network and green spaces. As Urban Development Secretary, he helped conceptualize and implement a series of major initiatives for urban transformation such as the Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and AMRUT Mission. Gauba also led key initiatives of the Ministry, such as the preparation of the report of The High-Powered Committee On Decongesting Traffic In Delhi – which studied New Delhi’s traffic scenario in-depth and provided a four-pronged strategy for resolution – and it was under his tenure that the Ministry prepared the critical National Policy on Fecal Sludge and Septage Management. One of the major projects under Gauba was the massive redevelopment project of seven general pool residential accommodations in India’s capital city New Delhi which sought to renew then 12,970 existing homes with 25,667 dwelling units, at an estimated project cost of INR 32,835 crores (operation costs for 30 years).

Home Secretary of India

Gauba was appointed as the Union Home Secretary by the ACC on 22 June 2017, succeeding Rajiv Mehrishi. He served as an officer on special duty in the rank of

secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

, till Mehrishi's retirement, he formally took charge on 31 August 2017. During Gauba’s tenure, the

undertook historic step of abrogation of the Article 370 and reorganization of J&K State. Gauba closely monitored and managed the on-ground situation. One of the major actions to ensure these changes were implemented was the banning of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, which has been at the forefront of separatist activities and violence since 1988. Gauba’s greatest success was the peaceful abolition of Art 370 and his management of the on-ground situation in Kashmir. Gauba as Union Home Secretary ensured effective implementation of the LWE strategy that he had conceptualized earlier. The renewed focus on mitigating and then combating the LWE menace across the country. Gauba is credited for significantly rationalizing the weapons and equipment procurement process for Central Armed Police Forces (CPRF, BSF), removing bulging procedural layers and empowering Commandant level officers with financial powers. Gauba was appointed as

in August 2019. He handed over charge of

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

to Ajay Kumar Bhalla (IAS) on 22 August 2019.

Cabinet Secretary of India

Rajiv Gauba took over as Cabinet Secretary from Pradeep Kumar Sinha on 30 August 2019 and served there till 30 August 2024. His tenure of five years as

is the longest in history.

Member, NITI Aayog

In March 2025, Rajiv Gauba was appointed as a full-time member of

, India's premier think tank. He became the fifth full-time member of NITI Aayog alongside Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Ramesh Chand, Vinod Kumar Paul and Arvind Virmani.

Personal life

His wife Pammi Gauba is Dean & Head of the Department, Department of Biotechnology, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology. Gauba has a son and a daughter.

References

External links

*
Executive record sheet as maintained by Department of Personnel and Training of Government of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gauba, Rajiv 1959 births Living people Patna University alumni Indian Administrative Service officers Indian Home Secretaries Cabinet Secretaries of India District magistrate 20th-century Indian civil servants 21st-century Indian civil servants