New Delhi: End of an illustrious career as a bureaucrat. Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS , Defence Secretary of India hanged his boots on Monday. Kumar, a Kerala cadre IAS officer of 1985 batch is known for his in depth knowledge for technology and has always been a champion of leveraging innovation for governance transformation.
He started his career as a district magistrate in Palakkad, Kerala and then went on serving Kerala government in various capacities. As the then Principal Secretary of IT in the state, Dr Kumar played a pivotal role in Kerala’s IT transformation.
An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Dr Kumar joined Government of India in 2010. First as the Joint Secretary of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Govt of India and then as Additional Secretary, he was instrumental in landmark policy formations such as electronics manufacturing, mobile manufacturing and also played important part in Govt of India’s flagship Digital India program.
Even as the Secretary of Defence, he had always focussed on implementing various programs in which emerging technologies & innovation have played important role. AI for Grievance Redressal, Upgrading Command Hospitals, etc was done during his tenure. He also encouraged tech startups and acknowledged their role in nation building. He was instrumental in bringing tech startups for problem solving of armed forces through Defence India Startup Challenge.
A bureaucrat known for his technological acumen and vision for governance, Dr Ajay Kumar’s presence will surely be missed.
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