Dr. Rajendra Kumar, I.A.S.

Curriculum Vitae
April 2011

Contact

Email: kumarr@alum.mit.edu
Website: www.rajendrakumar.web.officelive.com

Citizenship

Citizen of India

Education

August 2004 – July 2007

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, International Development Group
Ph.D., International Economic Development and Regional Planning

June 2004
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning
Master in City Planning (M.C.P.), International Development and Regional Planning
G.P.A.: 5.0/5.0

1992
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Master of Technology (M.Tech.) in Management and Systems

1988
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in Civil Engineering
Best Undergraduate Student in Civil Engineering

Academic Awards, Honors, and Fellowships

M.I.T. Instructorship, 2006-07

M.I.T-Japan International Studies Fellowship, Summer 2006

M.I.T. Instructorship, 2005-06

M.I.T. Presidential Fellowship, 2004-05

M.I.T. Tuition Fellowship, 2002-04

M.I.T. Program on Human Rights and Justice Fellowship, 2002-04

M.I.T. Program on Human Rights and Justice Summer Internship, June-Aug. 2003

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) Fellowship at I.I.T. Delhi, 1991-92

General Proficiency Prize for the best undergraduate student at I.I.T. Kanpur, 1988
National Merit Scholarship, India, 1981-84

Second prize in a national essay competition on “Developments in Space Science and

Technology”, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Trivandrum, India, 1984

Selected Professional Awards, Honors, and Recognition

Record of Appreciation by the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu
for outstanding work done in introducing live online web monitoring of the entire
electoral process in 70 polling booths in Kanniyakumari district in Tamil Nadu during General
Elections 2009. I was especially invited by the Election Commission of India for outstanding
performance in conducting elections to attend the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the
Commission at New Delhi on January 25, 2010

Approval by the state Government of a unique mobile phone based e-governance system for obtaining all
Government services and making payment of fees through mobile phones in Tiruvallur district in Tamil
Nadu during 2007-08

Record of Appreciation by the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu for outstanding work done in saving the
lives of 16 crew members through timely medical assistance on a South Korean ship
in Kanniyakumari during February 2009

Letter of Appreciation from the Ambassador of South Korea, New Delhi for outstanding work done in
saving the lives of 16 crew members through timely medical assistance on a South Korean ship in
Kanniyakumari during February 2009

Record of Appreciation by the Government of Tamil Nadu in India for outstanding work done as the
District Collector of Dharmapuri district during 2000-2001

Vocational Excellence Award conferred by Coimbatore South Rotary Club in Dec. 1999 for outstanding
contributions made for sustainable development of the Coimbatore city

Professional Experience

Indian Administrative Service, 1992 - Contd.

Extensive total work experience of over 18 years (including four and a half years of study leave to pursue
doctoral degree) in progressively senior positions in the most prestigious national civil service in India

August 2010 – Contd.

Director (Projects), National e-Governance Division (NeGD) Media Lab Asia, Ministry of Communications
and Information Technology, Government of India

Appraisal, monitoring and supervision of the various Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) National e-
Governance Plan (NeGP) of Government of India consisting of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) at
national and state levels; conceptualization and implementation of the National Population Register
(NPR) of the Registrar General of India (RGI) in 17 states and two union territories in India;
conceptualization and formulation of the new national mobile governance policy in India;
conceptualization and formulation of a new national policy on e-authentication; appraisal of e-governance
project proposals received from various central government ministries and state governments.

June 2009 – August 2010

Director and Private Secretary to the Union Cabinet Minister for Shipping, Government of India,
New Delhi

Formulation of policies on development, innovation, and modernization in the entire shipping sector in
India with special focus on encouraging technological innovation and improving competitiveness in the
major ports and ship building sectors in the country. Implemented a new online file management system

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in the entire Ministry of Shipping and the office of the Minister of Shipping for online tracking of receipt
and disposal of all files in the ministry.

Sept. 2007 – June 2009

Senior District Collector, Tiruvallur and Kanniyakumari districts, Tamil Nadu

Head of the entire district administration. Planning, formulation, and implementation of rural and urban
development, ICT for development, and poverty alleviation programmes. Coordination among all (over
100) Government departments in the district for formulation and implementation of various development
schemes. Conceptualized and implemented a unique mobile phone based e-governance project for
public grievance redressal and delivery of government services to people. A unique feature of the project
was the facility to pay the required fees for any service through the mobile phone itself. This is the first
project of its kind in the entire country. Also implemented a number of other e-governance projects, such
as a unique wiki-based online monitoring of all rural development schemes, online file management and
tracking system
covering all departments in the district, online filing, tracking, and monitoring of public grievance petitions.

June 2006 – Jan. 2007

Additional Secretary, Home Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai

Policy formulation and implementation for development of state police, judiciary, and prisons.
Coordination with all 29 district collectors and superintendents of police, development of a new wiki-based
website for the department and implementation of an e-governance system for effective coordination and
monitoring of conduct of official business among various departments.

Oct. 1992- Aug. 2002

Indian Administrative Service, various progressively senior positions in district and state administration in
the Govt. of Tamil Nadu

Held progressively senior and responsible positions in public policy and administration as a senior
government official in Tamil Nadu, India. Formulated, implemented, monitored, and evaluated several
government programs for ICT for development, rural and urban development, and poverty alleviation in
the largest district of Tamil Nadu as the head of the district administration. Extensive work experience of
over three years in ICT for development projects, and regional, urban, and city planning and development
as the Commissioner (Chief Executive Officer) of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation and as the
Chief Executive Officer of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. Chennai and Coimbatore are
the two largest cities in the state. Pioneered the concept of long-term city development strategies in India
through the Coimbatore City Corporate Plan. This unique initiative in India has been highly appreciated by
the Tamil Nadu government and by the World Bank.

Selected Publications

Kumar, R. (2011). Inclusive Development through e-Governance: Political Economy of e-Government

Projects in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala in India. Forthcoming.

Kumar, R. (2011). Regulating the Independent Power Producers: Comparative Analysis of Performances
of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu in India. In Darryl S.L. Jarvis, M. Ramesh, and Wu Xun
(Eds.), Infrastructure Regulation: What Works, Why and How Do We Know? Lessons from Asia and
Beyond. NJ, USA: World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd.

Kumar, R. (2011). Why Institutional Partnerships Matter: A Regional Innovation Systems Approach to
Making the ICT for Development Projects More Successful and Sustainable. In Jacques Steyn, Jean-Paul
Van Belle, Eduardo Villanueva Mansilla (Eds.), ICTs for Global Development and Sustainability: Practice
and Applications. Hershey, PA, USA: IGI-Global, pp. 330-350.

Kumar, R. (2009). Development of the Software Industry in Postreform India: Comparative Regional
Experiences in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. New York: Cambria Press.

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Kumar, R. (2008). Rethinking Cities in the Information Age: Urban Planning for the Knowledge Economy.
Sustainability Tomorrow, 3 (1).

Best, M. L. & Kumar, R. (2008). Sustainability Failures of Rural Telecenters: Challenges from the
Sustainable Access in Rural India (SARI) Project. Information Technology and International Development
(ITID), 4(4), 31-45.

Kumar, R. (2007). Making E-Government Projects in Developing Countries More Successful and
Sustainable: Lessons from Two Case Studies from India. Information Technology in Developing
Countries, 17(3).

Kumar, R. & Best, M. L. (2006). Social Impact and Diffusion of Telecenter Use: A Study from the
Sustainable Access in Rural India Project. The Journal of Community Informatics, 2(2).

Kumar, R. & Best, M. L. (2006). Impact and Sustainability of E-Government Services in Developing
Countries: Lessons Learned from Tamil Nadu, India. The Information Society, 22(1), 1-12.

Kumar, R. (2005). Bridging the Rural Digital Divide. In The Hindu, April 12, 2005. Available at:
http://www.hindu.com/op/2005/04/12/stories/2005041200161500.htm

Kumar, R. (2000). The Coimbatore City Corporate Plan: A Case Study of Strategic Management. In The
Challenge of Urban Government: Policies and Practices, edited by Mila Freire and Richard Stren, World
Bank Institute, Washington DC.

Kumar, R. (2000). Coimbatore City, India. In Conference Proceedings of the Asian City Development
Strategies Conference, Fukuoka.

Kumar, R. (1994). A Study of Background and Attitudes of IAS Probationers of 1992 Batch and Faculty
Members at LBS NAA, Mussoorie. The Administrator, Wiley Eastern Ltd.

Editorial Experience

Editor of Projections, the MIT Journal of Planning, Vol. 7, published in Spring 2008

Reviewer of scholarly papers for several international journals and conferences

Presentations at Conferences

Participated as an expert panelist in an Indo-UK Roundtable Conference on “ICTs for Development”

organized by the UK High Commission, UK Research Councils, and the International Institute of
Information Technology, Bangalore at Bangalore, January 11-13, 2010

Presented a paper entitled “Inclusive Development through e-Governance: Political Economy of

e-Government Projects in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala in India” at Communication Policy
Research South4 conference organized by LIRNEasia and the International Development Research
Center (IDRC), Canada at Colombo, December 7-8, 2009

Participated in a Writers’ Workshop for publishing a book entitled “Regulation: What Works, Why, and
How do we Know?” organized by LIRNEasia and the International Development Research Center (IDRC),
Canada during October 27-28 at Negombo, Sri Lanka

Participated in a Writers’ Workshop for publishing a book entitled “Regulation: What Works, Why, and
How do we Know?” organized by LIRNEasia and the International Development Research Center (IDRC),
Canada during October 27-28 at Negombo, Sri Lanka

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Presented a paper entitled “Regulating the Independent Power Producers: Comparative Analysis of
Performances of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu in India” at an international conference on
“Regulation: What Works, Why, and How do we know?” organized by LIRNEasia and the International
Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada during February 26-27, 2009 at the University of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong

Participated in the panel discussions during the Mindflow session on “How to Create a Ranking of Green
Cities” at the Copenmind conference at Copenhagen, Denmark, during September 1-2, 2008

Presented a paper entitled "Making ICT for Development Projects More Successful and Sustainable: A
Regional Innovation Systems Perspective” at the CPRsouth2 2007 conference during December 15-18,
2007, at the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India

Presented a paper entitled "Making E-Government Projects in Developing Countries More Successful and
Sustainable: Some Case Studies from India” at the conference “CPRsouth 2007: Research for Improving
ICT governance in the Asia-Pacific” during January 19-21, 2007, at the Asian Institute of Management,
Manila, Philippines

Presented a paper entitled “Late Innovation Strategies in the Indian Software Industry: Evolution of
Dynamic Process and Project Execution Capabilities” at the Interdisciplinary Workshop on Regional
Innovation organized by the Cambridge-MIT Institute and held at Kings College, Cambridge, UK during
June 9-10, 2006

Chaired a conference session on "Progressive Regionalism: Mediating Global/Local Dialectic? Part III" at
the annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) in Kansas City, USA
during October 26-28, 2005

Presented a paper entitled "Role of Knowledge Economy Infrastructure in the Growth of Information
Technology Industry Clusters in India" at the annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools
of Planning (ACSP) in Kansas City, USA during October 26-28, 2005

Presented the Coimbatore City Corporate Plan at the “Asian City Development Strategies Conference“,
Fukuoka, Japan, July 2000
Presented the Coimbatore City Corporate Plan at the “Urban and City Management” training program
organized by the World Bank, Toronto, May 1999

Research Experience

June-December 2006. Conducted field research on a comparative study of the role of the state in
promoting high technology industries in three southern states of India: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and
Kerala.

July-August, 2005. Conducted field research on changing institutional environment for private
participation in direct marketing of agricultural produce and on assessing impacts of one of the biggest
information and communications technology (ICT) project in rural India called “eChoupals” on improving
agricultural productivity. The project was funded by the Microsoft R&D Center in Bangalore, India

June-August, 2004. Conducted a household survey of 893 households for needs assessment of rural
communities for launching a sustainable community-based information and communications technology
(ICT) intervention in Jharkhand state in India under the Sustainable Access in Rural India (SARI) project

June-August, 2003. Conducted a household survey of 132 households to assess the socioeconomic
impacts of information and communications technology interventions in rural communities in Tamil Nadu
in India under the M.I.T. Program on Human Rights and Justice Summer Internship.

2003-04. Research on impact of science and technology on human rights under the M.I.T. Program on
Human Rights and Justice

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2002-03. Research on socioeconomic impacts of displacement of people due to development projects
under the M.I.T. Program on Human Rights and Justice

Teaching Experience

Spring 2007: Instructor for course 11.220: Quantitative Reasoning and Statistical Methods for Planning I
at M.I.T.

Spring 2006: Instructor for course 11.220: Quantitative Reasoning and Statistical Methods for Planning I
at M.I.T.

Fall 2005: Instructor for course 11.204: Planning, Communication, and Digital Media at M.I.T.

Spring 2005: Teaching Assistant for course 11.484: Project Evaluation and Planning for Developing
Countries at M.I.T.

Fall 2004: Teaching Assistant for course 11.482J: Regional Socioeconomic Impact Analyses and
Modeling at M.I.T.

Spring 2004: Teaching Assistant for course 11.484: Project Evaluation and Planning for Developing
Countries at M.I.T.

Fall 2003: Teaching Assistant for course 11.204: Planning Communications and Digital Media at M.I.T.

Fall 2003: Teaching Assistant for Course 11.487: Urban Public Finance in Developing Countries at M.I.T.

Quantitative Skills

Highly proficient in econometrics and advanced statistical techniques

Software Skills

Proficient in ArcGIS, ArcView, Access, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, STATA, SPSS, Excel

Language Skills

Hindi (native), English (highly proficient), Maithili (fluent), Tamil (fluent), Spanish (beginner)