Know Your Babu: Centre handpicks Gujarat cadre IAS Rajesh Kishore as NHRC Secretary General

THE Centre has selected Gujarat cadre IAS of 1980 batch, Rajesh Kishore, to head National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved Kishore’s appointment as secretary general of NHRC. Kishore, an additional chief secretary handling…
Gujarat’s health and family welfare department, was empanelled as union secretary or equivalent in October 2013 along with his batch-mates, Maheshwar Sahu, HK Dash and Amitava Bhatacharya. His earlier work as the CEO of Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority helped him getting noticed by the then state CM and now prime minister Narendra Modi.
Originally hailing from Bihar, Kishore did MSc in physics from the University of Delhi before getting into IAS. He had a diploma from IIM-Ahmedabad too. In 1995, he earned a diploma in social development from the University of Wales in Swansea, UK.
In late 1980s, Kishore served as collector in Gujarat’s districts of Amreli and Surendranagar. At the Centre, he was with the ministries of commerce and industry, and human resource development.
Between 2005 and 2009, Kishore was the chief executive officer of Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority, a body established only after the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. During this period, he played a vital role in issues related to earthquake reconstruction and in livelihood restoration. Then, he got shifted to health and family welfare department.