Know Your Babu: IAS Sumita Dawra taking up economic role in Beijing

AS Sumita Dawra, a 1991 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, is taking up the newly created post of counsellor (economic) for the economic wing in Indian embassy in Beijing, here is a snapshot of Ms Dawra’s career graph as an IAS. A masters in economics, Sumita Dawra is armed with two MBA degrees one of which is from UK’s IDD School of Public Policy.

Currently a director in financial services division in the ministry of finance, Dawra’s new assignment won’t be a cakewalk. She will have to live up to the expectation of the Indian government in pushing India’s economic interests in China. In May, 2010, the cabinet approved a proposal for creating an economic wing originally to be headed by a minister (economic) in its embassy in Beijing. According to the government release issued then, the economic wing will deal with matters relating to macro-economic coordination and G-20, foreign investment, multilateral and bilateral borrowing and lending and financial sector developments in China and the Asia Pacific region.

Originally hailing from Punjab, she took up many an important assignment in Andhra Pradesh including Managing Director of Urban Finance Infrastructure Development Corporation.

Some of her publications have dealt with a variety of issues including IRDP, utility engineering, participatory rural appraisal, child labour, urban governance and JNNURM and MFIs at grassroots just to name a few.

Action and Appointments

a) Former IAS Subhash Lalla who was a close aide of former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, resigned as a member of Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission. He is the first bureaucrat to lose his job in connection to Adarsh housing scam. Lulla has claimed that he has no connection to the scam.

b) Information and Broadcasting ministry additional secretary Rajiv Takru, a 1979 batch Gujarat cadre IAS, has taken charge as an officiating CEO of Prasar Bharati. Earlier, CEO, BS Lalli was suspended for his alleged involvement in awarding some Commonwealth Games related contracts.