Born on 18th February, 1962 in rural Odisha as an Indian citizen. Academically, I was awarded with a PhD degree in Environmental Science (Water Quality) and M.Sc. degree in Natural Resource Management from Berhampur University and Agricultural University of Norway respectively.
In addition, I have completed MBA in Human Resource Management and B.Sc. in Agriculture. Soon after graduation, I joined in Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, State Government of Odisha on 5th September, 1984 as Junior Agriculture Officer and retired from Government service in the rank of Additional Director of Agriculture with last posting as Director, Institute on Management of Agricultural Extension (IMAGE), Bhubaneswar on 28.02.2022 after attaining the age of superannuation.
In my 37.5 years of service career, I have acquired more than 19 years of professional work experience in Agricultural Development and 18 years in Environment Management fields.
During my tenure in Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Department, I have worked under various capacities at different field locations in the State. Along with policy planning, I was overseeing grass root level implementation of various agricultural programmes/schemes/projects through agriculture extension services especially carbon conscious and climate resilient farming systems namely organic farming, crop diversification, integrated farming, Odisha millet mission, Rainfed Agriculture, SRI method of rice cultivation, micro irrigation & water use efficiency, waste/fallow land restoration, land and water management, crop contingent planning, need based research involving international and nationally reputed institutions along with training & capacity building of field functionaries as well as farmers with widespread usage and adoption of new age technology for enhancing agricultural food production and nutritional security, and promotion for setting of more Commercial Agri Enterprises (CAEs) in agriculture and allied sectors such as Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Poultry and Fisheries including Agro Processing & Food Processing i.e. agribusiness and value chain to bring investment in Agriculture thereby enhancing the income and alternate livelihood options of farming community.
On behalf of Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, I was also coordinating/ strategic planning of the World Bank Assisted Project on “Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture (OIIPCRA)” – implemented through Water Resources Department, Govt. of Odisha.
On promotion to the rank of Additional Director of Agriculture, I was posted as Director, Institute on Management of Agricultural Extension (IMAGE), Bhubaneswar – an autonomous Institute under Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt. of Odisha - dealing with establishment of linkage between Institutes of outstanding accomplishment in the field of agriculture & allied sectors, development of training modules, organization of need based trainings, workshops and capacity building of middle and senior level officers, documentation of best practices/success stories and preparation of IEC materials for communication, Exposure visit of famers and field functionaries, Women empowerment, development of Knowledge Portal, AMA KRUSHI – a two way Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service - mobile phone based extension system for dissemination of Agro Advisory to farmers, Easy availability of farm credit to share croppers through JLGs (BALARAM), financial management and administrative matters.
As Director, IMAGE, I was also the operational partner to plan, organize, implement and monitor activities for GEF-FAO assisted projects (Green Agriculture Project & FOLUR Impact Programme) being implemented in Odisha.
While posted in Forest, Environment & Climate Change Department, Govt. of Odisha, I was working as Junior Scientist/Senior Scientist dealing in policy formulations of State Government for Protection, Conservation and Management of Environment within the ambit of prevailing Environmental Laws.
In course of my work, I was conversant with issues relating to use of policy instruments for control of Water/Air Pollution, Noise Pollution, Waste Management covering Municipal solid waste, Hazardous waste, Biomedical waste, E-waste, Plastic waste and Fly ash, CRZ and Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) of Odisha, Eco-restoration & Biodiversity Conservation, Wetlands Conservation & Management, River Pollution Management, Project monitoring/management supported under Odisha Environment Management Fund (OEMF) Trust, Environmental Clearance Process - Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)/Environment Management Plan (EMP) of developmental projects, Strengthening of the Institutions/ Organizations functioning under the administrative control of Environment wing, Environmental Awareness Programmes through District Environment Societies, Eco Clubs, ENVIS, GOLBE programme, VOs/NGOs etc. Since inception, I managed functioning of the Appellate Authority as Designated Officer for more than 10 years very smoothly.
As I was supervising the activities of State Climate Change Cell, I got involved in the preparation of “State Action Plan on Climate Change” (SAPCC), Odisha for the period 2010-15.
As a follow up, I had been coordinating with all concerned stakeholder Departments/Organizations at State level for physical and financial compliances to the key priorities intended for climate change mitigation/adaptation and finally came up with compilation of a progress report on implementation of SAPCC, Odisha for 2010-15.
The annual “Climate Budgeting in Odisha” has been prepared to assist the Govt. in identifying the sectors and schemes to focus on to improve climate resilience and mitigation outcomes, and in deciding whether programmes need redesigning or additional funding be required to deliver climate benefits and/or safeguard projects from the impact of climate change.
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