Shailaja Chandra,

Shailaja Chandra has been a career civil servant having over 38 years experience in the Central and State Governments in India. Her main focus has been in the areas of infrastructure development, health management and city governance. She has long years of exposure to the functioning of political and civil society movements and how they can be used to enhance participatory democracy.

Ms. Chandra became a Permanent Secretary to the Government of India in 1999 and later distinguished herself as Delhi’s first woman Chief Secretary in 2004. As Chief Secretary she was actively associated with a government-citizen partnership “Bhagidari” which won the United Nations Public Service Award for improving transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in the Public Service Category. She received the International Clean Cities Award on behalf of the Government of Delhi for introduction of the largest fleet of CNG run (environment friendly) buses in the world.

Ms. Chandra has also headed the National AIDS Control Organisation in India and was appointed the Public Grievances Commissioner and Appellate Authority under the Right to Information Act in Delhi. In both these assignments she came into direct contact with media, NGOs, and the general public and understood their capacity and potential to influence outcomes.

Shailaja Chandra is presently the Executive Director of the National Population Stabilisation Fund, an organization setup by the Government of India as a civil society initiative.

Shailaja has a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Wales and an Honours Degree in English Literature. Recently her book “It Crossed My Mind” was released, an anthology of articles on subjects of current social concern. She is also a columnist for a leading Indian national newspaper.