Bio Data of Secretary General

Mr. Devendra Kumar Singh
Shri Devendra Kumar Singh, IAS
Secretary General, NHRC
91-11-24663211, 91-11-24663212 (O)

Mr. Devendra Kumar Singh joined the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India as its new Secretary General on 2nd May, 2022. He is a Kerala Cadre Indian Administrative Service, IAS officer, of 1989 batch. Prior to joining the Commission, he was holding the charge of Secretary, Union Ministry of Cooperation.

Mr. Singh has done M.Sc (Applied Geology) from IIT, Roorkee and MPhil in the same field from the JNU, Delhi. Later, he did MBA (Public Policy) from International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises, ICPE Slovenia.

As an IAS officer, he held several important assignments both in Kerala Government and the Centre. His last assignment in the Government of Kerala was Agricultural Production Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary (2018-2020). He has worked as Secretary (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying) and Principal Secretary (Agriculture). He also worked as District Collector, Wayanad (1996-97) and Kollam (1997-99) besides working in Department of Health and as ARC, Kerala House. He has worked as Sub Collector in different subdivisions (Thrissur and Fort Cochin) during 1991-95.

While on Central deputation he held important portfolios in the Ministry of Home Affairs as Deputy Secretary (NEC) (1999- 2004) & Ministry of Commerce as Additional Director General (Foreign Trade), Directorate General of Foreign Trade, New Delhi (2011-2016). Subsequently, he worked as Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)(2016-2018). During the COVID period he was posted as Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner in the Ministry of MSME in May, 2020. Subsequently, he was posted as Secretary, Government of India in the Ministry of Cooperation on 24th September, 2021 before assuming the charge of Secretary General, NHRC.

He has won several awards, some of which are as follows:-

1. Digital India Awards 2020- category open data, Ministry of MSME;

2. Asia Pacific Council of Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT), 2013 – Awarded 1st prize in the trade facilitation category of the project of Electronic Bank Realization Certificate, as ADG (Foreign Trade), Directorate General of Foreign Trade;

3. CSI Nihilent e-Governance Award 2012-13 – Awarded recognition for Electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e-BRC), as ADG (Foreign Trade), Directorate General of Foreign Trade;

4. Awarded Roorkee University Gold Medal for securing 1st position in the University in the Applied Geology (1985).

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