Arun Bhatnagar

Arun Bhatnagar (born 10 June 1944) is a former Indian Administrative Service officer. He belongs to the 1966 Madhya Pradesh cadre and has served in various capacities in Madhya Pradesh and with the Government of India. Bhatnagar retired from the Indian Administrative Service in June, 2004 as Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training and worked, thereafter, as Secretary, National Advisory Council and Chairman, Prasar Bharati (2008- 09) at New Delhi.

He lives in Nizamuddin East, New Delhi, India.

Personal Life
Bhatnagar was born in New Delhi. He attended St. Columba's School till grade XII after which he joined St. Stephens College for an undergraduate degree (B.A.) in Economics.

Bhatnagar claims descent from ancestor Munshi Har Gopal Tufta or "Mirza" Tufta, Mirza Ghalib’s contemporary and best known friend and a well known poet in his own right in Urdu and Persian.

He is the grandson of the eminent scientist, Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, OBE, FRS, architect of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and of the chain of National Laboratories in the country 9under the leadership of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources & Scientific Research, Ministry of Education (under the leadership of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and first Chairman of the University Grants Commission (1953- 55).

Of the FRS, it has been said that ‘it is a qualification that makes the other ones irrelevant”.

Of his two brothers-in-law, one is currently Secretary, Government of India and the other is a Major General in the Indian Army.

Career
Bhatnagar entered the Indian Administrative Service in 1966 at the age of 22 years; his assignments with the Government of India and the Government of Madhya Pradesh include:

Assignments between 1967 – 84: Allotted to Madhya Pradesh cadre and worked in Field and Secretariat positions in the State, including as District collector and District Magistrate, Sehore (1973 – 75). As Collector, Sehore, he is still remembered for the exemplary relief and rehabilitation work carried out by him and his team and colleagues (comprising officials, non- officials and voluntary agencies) in the Budhni and Narsrullahganj areas in the particularly intense monsoon rains of 1973. On deputation to the Government of India as Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Power (1975 – 79). Later, he served in the State Government at Bhopal as Special Secretary (Finance & Planning) and as Secretary between 1979 – 84.

Assignments between 1984 – 1992: Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power between 1984 – 89 and Chairman & Managing Director, Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (1985 – 86). Secretary to the Chief Minister and, concurrently, Secretary in various Departments (1989 - 92).

Assignments between 1992 – 2004 in the Government of India: Joint Secretary to Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India (1992 – 94), Minister (Economic), High Commission of India, London (1994-96), Additional Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Government of India (1996–98), Principal Adviser, Planning Commission in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India (1998 – 99), Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports: 1999 – 2000, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development: 2000 – 02, Secretary, Food & Public Distribution: 2002 – 03, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training: 2003 – 04.

Bhatnagar retired from the Indian Administrative Service in June, 2004 and worked, thereafter, as Secretary, National Advisory Council (2004 – 08) and Chairman, Prasar Bharati (2008 – 09) at New Delhi.

Articles written by him have been published in the Times of India, The Illustrated Weekly of India, The Pioneer and, more recently, Dawn.