- This event is over. However, time travel possible through our Audio & Video! See upcoming events
Experiments in Public Administration
The Successes and Failures of a Civil Servant
Speakers
In an illustrious career spanning over forty years in public service and culminating in the highest office in Indian bureaucracy – Union Cabinet Secretary – KM Chandrasekhar has seen, and done, it all. He is one of those rare IAS officers who has held a wide range of senior positions in State government, the Centre, and public sector undertakings.
In this autobiography, As Good as My Word, he paints an intimate picture of the UPA government during one of its toughest phases and his own, crucial, role in steering India through some of her most severe crises – the Great Recession of 2008, the oilmen’s strike in 2009 and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks – and scams – the 2G Spectrum case and the 2010 Commonwealth Games corruption scandal. The book describes Chandrasekhar’s experiments in public administration, cutting his teeth in trade diplomacy as the Indian ambassador to the World Trade Organization, his excellent working equation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his run-ins with some prominent ministers of the time, and his reflections on Indian democracy, economy and defence.
The author will be in conversation with Uma Mahadevan and Sudhir Krishnaswamy. A Q&A with the audience will follow.
In collaboration with:
Speakers
KM Chandrasekhar
KM Chandrasekhar is a former IAS officer of the 1970 batch, who served as the Cabinet Secretary of India from 2007 to 2011. In a career spanning five decades, he has traversed many sectors—district administration, public finance, taxation, national security and international diplomacy, among others. He was the Founder Chairman of the Spices Board, India’s Ambassador to the WTO and the Union Revenue Secretary. He was Vice Chairman, Kerala State Planning Board, and has also held the position of Secretary for Industries and Finance departments in the Kerala government.
Uma Mahadevan
Uma Mahadevan is a civil servant currently posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Panchayat Raj in the Government of Karnataka. She has worked in diverse sectors including women and child development. She has recently served as a member of the Taskforce on Early Childhood Care and Education. She was a member of the working group that produced Karnataka’s first Human Development Report. She has written extensively on culture and development issues.
Sudhir Krishnaswamy
Dr. Sudhir Krishnaswamy is the Vice-Chancellor of NLSIU, Bengaluru and the Director of the Department of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE), NLSIU. He is also the Co-founder and trustee of the not-for-profit research trust, Centre for Law and Policy Research. A Rhodes Scholar and graduate of Oxford University, he has earlier worked with the Prime Minister’s Committee on Infrastructure, Planning Commission; and the Kasturirangan Expert Committee on Bangalore Governance. His main areas of interest are constitutional law, Legal System Reform, legal theory, intellectual property law and administrative law. He has also written on a wide range of topics, including Indian constitutional law, intellectual property law, and judicial corruption.
Sudhir is also part of Facebook’s oversight board that was set up to moderate content posted on social media platforms. He is the only Indian among the 20 members of the board that comprises independent Members from around the world. The board has the power to make decisions on content that can be allowed or removed from Facebook and Instagram.
