 "Jairam's team members look for new roles")
By May 16, the rooms, adjoining Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh's office, which house his team, will be vacated. The members of the team, who gave the ministry a “dynamic” image, will take up new assignments in their respective areas of expertise.
While Varad Pande, a development specialist and Jairam’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD), will be taking up new assignments, his colleague Muhammad Ali Khan, a lawyer, will now work on land acquisition matters in the Supreme Court. He will also spare his time for the legal cell of the Congress.
Pande used to work with the World Bank before he was entrusted with the task of looking after the Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows and National Rural Livelihood Mission under the Jairam’s ministry in 2009.
Khan, who was working with law firm Amarchand Mangaldas, has been serving the ministry for the past five years. He played a major role in giving a shape to the United Progressive Alliance’s Land Acquisition Bill.
The sole woman in Jairam’s team, Neelakshi Mann, a consultant in the ministry, was monitoring and evaluating policy initiatives in her present role. She has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Duke University, USA and a Master’s in Mathematics from Delhi University. Neelakshi will now join an international development organisation as project officer.
R Vineel Krishna, IAS, is also a key member of the minister’s team. While Vineel will take up an assignment at the National Institute for Rural Development in Hyderabad, the former district collector of Malkangiri, Odisha, who was abducted by Maoists, has been an invaluable resource for the minister, especially in his extensive travels and initiatives for Naxal-affected districts.
R Ramesh, additional private secretary to the minister, has been with Jairam since 2006. He will be posted to another ministry. However, he says the next posting would be “not as exciting or challenging” as this one.
While Varad Pande, a development specialist and Jairam’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD), will be taking up new assignments, his colleague Muhammad Ali Khan, a lawyer, will now work on land acquisition matters in the Supreme Court. He will also spare his time for the legal cell of the Congress.
Pande used to work with the World Bank before he was entrusted with the task of looking after the Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows and National Rural Livelihood Mission under the Jairam’s ministry in 2009.
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The sole woman in Jairam’s team, Neelakshi Mann, a consultant in the ministry, was monitoring and evaluating policy initiatives in her present role. She has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Duke University, USA and a Master’s in Mathematics from Delhi University. Neelakshi will now join an international development organisation as project officer.
R Vineel Krishna, IAS, is also a key member of the minister’s team. While Vineel will take up an assignment at the National Institute for Rural Development in Hyderabad, the former district collector of Malkangiri, Odisha, who was abducted by Maoists, has been an invaluable resource for the minister, especially in his extensive travels and initiatives for Naxal-affected districts.
R Ramesh, additional private secretary to the minister, has been with Jairam since 2006. He will be posted to another ministry. However, he says the next posting would be “not as exciting or challenging” as this one.