Know Your Babu: New chief of Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme, Sundareshan

Sundareshan (Left) with Deora (File photo)

THIS photo was taken sometime in October 2010. S Sundareshan, then petroleum secretary was enjoying the moment, as his boss Murli Deora apparently cracked a joke at a press conference. “If boss cracks a joke, you have to laugh even if you don’t enjoy it, or even understand it,” one of the readers posted a comment while reacting to this photo published in BoI earlier. Sundareshan, a retired IAS belonging to Kerala cadre, has now genuine reasons to smile. The government has…
appointed him as Mission Director, Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme under the Planning Commission, in the rank and pay of a secretary to the government of India for a period of two years. And this will be a highly satisfying job as the new scheme is expected to change the lives of lakhs of poor people with marginal existence.
S Sundareshan, a management graduate from UK’s University of Leeds, was a veteran in economic and petroleum matters. He had joined the ministry of petroleum and natural gas in April, 2007 as an additional secretary, and was later promoted as special secretary, and then as secretary. He was then moved to the ministry of heavy industries as its secretary. Earlier in his career, Sundareshan served as a joint secretary in the department of economic affairs under finance ministry (1997-99), and Minister (Economic), a joint secretary equivalent post, at the Indian embassy in Tokyo. Another significant post that he held was the chairman and MD of Forward Markets Commission under the ministry of consumer affairs.
Now, Sundareshan has even more a challenging job. Under the government’s Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme, benefit or subsidy will be directly transferred to the citizens living below the poverty line. The payments will come automatically to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. The ruling Congress is expecting that the success of the scheme will give it a huge political mileage in the coming general elections.

Action and Appointments
a) Rentala Chandrasekhar, 1975 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre retired IAS who had earlier served as Union telecom secretary, has been appointed as chairman of NTRO for a period of three years.