Balmiki Prasad Singh

Balmiki Prasad Singh
Governor of Sikkim
In office
9 July 2008 – July 2013
Preceded by Sudarshan Agarwal
Succeeded by Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil
Personal details
Born Balmiki Prasad Singh
(1942-01-01) 1 January 1942
Spouse(s) Late Karuna Singh
Residence

J-2, Upasana Apartments, 1 Hailey Road, New Delhi – 110001 INDIA

Tel. No.: 011-4322 0002

Mob. No.: 09810105981
As of November 28, 2014

Balmiki Prasad Singh (born 1 January 1942) was the 14th Governor of Sikkim, India. He is a scholar, thinker and public servant and has written several books and articles.[1] He was born on 1 January 1942 in Begusarai, Bihar. Among his prominent books are Bahudha and the post 9/11 World and The problem of change: a study of North East India.[1] He presided over the four-day Global Buddhist Conference that began on Sunday with the chanting of prayers to mark the 2,600th year of Buddha's enlightenment.[2] Around 1,000 Buddhist scholars, thinkers and followers from over 30 countries assembled at convention hall in Ashoka Hotel on day one of the conference.[3] B.P. Singh is well known as the author of the Bahudha Approach, which outlines a path towards a harmonious world, as against the clash of civilizations. He writes:

Pluralism could be the closest equivalent to Bahudha in the English language. But Bahudha is more than pluralism. For, the Bahudha approach is both a celebration of diversity and an attitude of mind that respects another person's point of view. Dialogue is central to this approach.[4]

Education and family background

Singh was educated in a village school and later at the universities of Patna and Oxford. He passed his M.A. in Political Science from University of Patna in 1960, standing First Class First with record marks and also winning several gold medals. At Oxford University, he obtained a Master of Arts Degree. He became a lecturer in the Post- Graduate Department of Political Science at Patna University at the age of nineteen.[5]

Singh hails from a family of activists for Indian independence. His father Harbansh Narayan Singh was an activist who had participated in the Quit India Movement (1942-1944) and courted imprisonment during this period. His grandfather Hridaya Narayan Singh, a well-known activist, was also the founder Principal of National School in 1920 in Bihat village under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Singh was married to Karuna on 10 March 1961 at Patna while they were in their teens. While B.P. Singh hails from a family of activists (not political leaders), the father of Karuna was Rai Bahadur Ganesh Prasad Rai, who retired as Commissioner in the Government of Bihar. Both these families owned agricultural land but have since joined the services. The two families, however, still have deep roots in their respective villages.

Singh and Karuna have three children: two daughters, Sumita and Preeti and Rajeev, a son and six grandchildren. While Rajeev is a member of the Indian Revenue Service (IT) and currently a Commissioner, his wife Kirti is a fashion designer. Sumita teaches physics in the Post-graduate Department of the Patna Science College, while her husband, P.N. Rai, IPS, is an Addl. D.G of Police in Bihar. Preeti, a journalist, is married to Rajeev Ranjan, IAS, who is a Principal Secretary in the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Among the six grandchildren, Tanvi Rai is pursuing a Ph.D. in Finance at Wharton Business School in the United States on full fellowship; Aditya Ranjan is attending MIT Harvard for a MS-Programme; Karan Rai is pursuing his studies at Stanford University; Gauri Singh is a student of LLB in Faculty of Law at the University of Delhi; and Akhil and Kaustabh are pursuing B.Tech. in VIT and BITS Pilani respectively.

Administrative service

Singh was appointed in 1964 to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). A former IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Singh was posted in North Lakhimpur and Tezpur as a young officer.[1] He also held the posts of DC, Kamrup, and Home Commissioner, Assam from 1980-82.[1] He had another stint in Assam from 1990-92 before being posted to Union Home Ministry.[1] A former IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Singh was posted in North Lakhimpur and Tezpur as a young district officer.He also held the posts of DC, Kamrup from 1973–75 and Home Commissioner, Assam from 1980-82. He had another stint in Assam from 1990-92 before being posted to Union Home Ministry.

Over the past four decades, Shri B.P. Singh has held a variety of important positions within Assam as well as in the Government of India. He was Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forest (1993–95), Culture Secretary (1995–97) and Home Secretary (1997–99) in Government of India.

As an international civil servant, Shri B.P. Singh served as Executive Director and Ambassador at the World Bank during 1999-2002 representing India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and was one of the founder members of the Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) and member, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Washington D.C.

Career

Awards and fellowships

He has since been the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship (1982–84), Queen Elizabeth Fellowship (1989–90) and Mahatma Gandhi National Fellow (2007–08). He is also a recipient of Gulzari lal Nanda Award for Outstanding public service from the President of India in 1998 and Man of Letters Award from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2003.

As academician and writer

B.P. Singh has authored six books including The Problem of Change-A Study of North-East India (1987); India’s Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond (1998) and Bahudha and the post-9/11 World (2008), all published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi. He has also published articles and monographs on politics, culture, ecology and public administration. He is Chief Editor of The Millennium Book on New Delhi, OUP (2001).

B.P. Singh has also been Chancellor of the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath for six years and Chief Editor of the South Asia Series on "Perspectives on Economics, Technology and Governance" of Oxford University Press, New York (2000–06).

List of books authored

Edited books

Monographs

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bedabrata Lahkar (2012-03-21). "Sikkim Governor reminisces on Assam". The Assam Tribune. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
  2. ↑ "Talk with H.E. Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh". thenews.com.pk. 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  3. ↑ "Amid China row, president, PM skip global Buddhist meet". The Times of India. 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
  4. ↑ Bahudha and the Post 9/11 World
  5. ↑ "Visit From HE Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh". thenews.com.pk. 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2014-08-04.

Further reading

External links

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