Amitabh Rajan (born 1 January 1955) is an Indian Administrative Serviceofficer of Maharashtra cadre and the former Home Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. He headed the Reserve Bank of India Services Board as its Chairman from 2018-2022, and was also an Independent Director in the Board of the State Trading Corporation of India. He has made significant contributions to the fields of Sociology, Economics, and Jurisprudence.
Early life and education
Rajan holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Master of Arts (with Distinction) in Modern History and a Doctorate in Sociological Jurisprudence from Jawaharlal Nehru University.[1]
Career
Rajan started his civil service career by joining the Indian administrative service in 1979. As a career bureaucrat, he served the State Government of Maharashtra and the Government of India, in various capacities. With the Government of Maharashtra and Government of India, Rajan has held very senior positions in the areas of Internal Security, Finance, Power Sector Regulation, Corporate Governance and Investment Commission. He held the charge of the Additional Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary, Government of Maharashtra.[1][2][3][4]
As Maharashtra's Home Secretary, Rajan headed "Operation X", the hanging of the terrorist Ajmal Kasab.[5][6][7] Rajan also gave sanction to prosecute Zabiuddin Ansari (aka Abu Jundal) in the Aurangabad Arms Haul Case,[8][9] on the strength of which Abu Jundal was convicted to life imprisonment by the Special Court (MCOCA).
Rajan established the Maharashtra Police Establishment Board, and was responsible for the selection of various Police Commissioners and Director Generals in the State of Maharashtra, including two Police Commissioners of Mumbai, and Police Commissioners of Pune, Thane, etc.[10][11]
He chaired several high-powered committees, including the committee setup to improve the low conviction rate in Maharashtra, which improved state-level conviction-rate in the next calendar year,[12][13][14] and the committee setup by the Bombay High Court to improve traffic congestion in Mumbai City.[15]
He has represented India in various international venues, including at the 2012 Ministerial Conference of Paris Pact, where he led the Indian delegation in the absence of the Union Finance Minister. He also led the Indian delegation at SAARC summits in Pakistan (1993) and Bangladesh (1992).
He has also held memberships in the Council of Administration, International Institute of Administrative Sciences, Brussels, the Governing Council of the Asian Group of Public Administration, Beijing, and the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration & Management, London. His biographical entry has been included in the INFA Annual Publication "India: Who’s Who"[19] since 2002, under the Finance category. He is also the Honorary President of The International Chamber of Professional Education and Industry
Member, State Civil Services Board for IAS officers (2013-2014)
Member, State Civil Services Board for IFS officers (2013-2014)
Academic Councils
Member, Advisory Board, Symbiosis School of Banking and Finance, Pune (2023-)
Member, Academic Council, Institute of Technology and Science, Ghaziabad (2019-)
Member, Academic Advisory Board, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, Mumbai (2019-)
Member, Academic Advisory Board, GL Bajaj Institute of Management and Research, Greater Noida (2019-)
Books, articles, interviews and talks
Rajan has written several books, including "Administrative Ethics: A Conceptual Framework", "Ethical Dimensions of Administrative Power", "Sociology of Human Rights"[22] and "Explorations in Local History and Literature". He has also authored over 15 research articles including the publications in Indian Journal of Public Administration: "Information Rights: A Jurisprudential Audit"[23] and "Jurisprudence of Children’s Rights",[24] and the publications in All India Reporter: "Evolution of Information Rights Jurisprudence",[25] and "Jurisprudential Strength of Children’s Rights".[26] As an authority on the Maharashtra Police, he was invited to write the introductory commentary on the book "The Maharashtra Police Act" by All India Reporter.[27]
Rajan has also written several articles in the field of Finance, including “The Institutional Identity of India’s NITI Aayog”,[28] “India’s Fourteenth Finance Commission: A SWOT-Analysis[29]”, “Neoliberalism and After: Scope and Limits of Interest Group Representations in Public Finance Decisions”,[30] and "Techno-economic Aspects of Modernization of Police Forces in India".[31]
Rajan has given various invited talks -- "Techno-economic aspects of Modernization of Police Forces in India" (London), "Administrative Identity of Regulation in India" (International Congress of I.I.A.S., Lausanne, 2011), and "New Public Management Model: A Critique. Public Administration" (Leadership and Management Academy, Republic of South Africa, 2011) -- to name a few.
Books
Administrative Ethics: A Conceptual Framework (Routledge London, 2023)[32]
Ethical Dimensions of Administrative Power (SAGE, 2021)[33]
Explorations in Local History and Literature, 1985
Articles
Role of Innovation, Creation and Integration in Institution Building for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Indian Institute of Public Administration Digest)[34]
Administrative Theory of Regulation: The Indian Scenario[35] (Indian Journal of Public Administration)
Institutional Dynamics of Governance Reforms in India (1991-2016)[36] (Indian Journal of Public Administration)
The Institutional Identity of India’s NITI Aayog[28] (Indian Journal of Public Administration)
India’s Fourteenth Finance Commission: A SWOT-Analysis[29] (Indian Journal of Public Administration)
Neoliberalism and After: Scope and Limits of Interest Group Representations in Public Finance Decisions[30] (Indian Journal of Public Administration)
The Maharashtra Police Act[27] (All India Reporter)
Evolution of Information Rights Jurisprudence[25] (All India Reporter)
Jurisprudential Strength of Children’s Rights[26] (All India Reporter)
Information Rights: A Jurisprudential Audit[23] (Indian Journal of Public Administration)
Jurisprudence of Children’s Rights[24] (Indian Journal of Public Administration)
Invited Talks and Public Lectures
Adoption of Technologies for Business Growth: The Post-2008 Era (Distinguished Lecture) (Institute of Technology and Science, Ghaziabad, October 2023)
^ abRajan, Amitabh (2002). Sociology of human rights: a study of Indian experience in child welfare. Mumbai, India: Himalaya Pub. House. ISBN9788178662428.
^ abRajan, Amitabh (July–September 2009). "Information Rights: A Jurisprudential Audit". Indian Journal of Public Administration. 55 (3): 325–335. doi:10.1177/0019556120090301. S2CID168931802.
^ abRajan, Amitabh (January–March 2009). "Jurisprudence of Children's Rights". Indian Journal of Public Administration. 55 (1): 13. doi:10.1177/0019556120090102. S2CID158455800.
^ ab"Evolution of Information Rights Jurisprudence". All India Reporter. 100 (April 2013): 65–71.
^ ab"Jurisprudential Strength of Children's Rights". All India Reporter. 100 (February 2013): 23–38.
^ abIntroductory Commentary on The Maharashtra Police Act. AIR Law Academy & Research Centre. November 2014. pp. 7–22.
^ abRajan, Amitabh. "The Institutional Identity of India's NITI Aayog". The Indian Journal of Public Administration. LXII (1 (January 2016)): 111–117.
^ abRajan, Amitabh. "India's Fourteenth Finance Commission: A SWOT-Analysis". The Indian Journal of Public Administration. LXI (4 (October 2015)): 633–640.
^ abRajan, Amitabh. "Neoliberalism and After: Scope and Limits of Interest Group Representations in Public Finance Decisions". The Indian Journal of Public Administration. LXI (3 (July, 2015)): 364–374.
^ abRajan, Amitabh. "Techno-economic Aspects of Modernization of Police Forces in India". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Rajan, Amitabh. "Role of Innovation, Creation and Integration in Institution Building for the Fourth Industrial Revolution". Indian Institute of Public Administration Digest. 2: 3–7.
^Rajan, Amitabh (September 2018). "Administrative Theory of Regulation: The Indian Scenario". Indian Journal of Public Administration. 64 (3): 385–403. doi:10.1177/0019556118785425. S2CID159003692.
^Rajan, Amitabh (2017). "Institutional Dynamics of Governance Reform in India (1991–2016)". Indian Journal of Public Administration. 63: 41–62. doi:10.1177/0019556116689765. S2CID157406652.