His Excellency Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh, former Governor of Sikkim

Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh is a distinguished scholar, thinker and public servant. He was born on 1.1.1942 in Bihat Village of Begusarai Dist.(Bihar). He was educated in a village school and subsequently at the universities of Patna and Oxford. He passed his M.A. in Political Science from Patna University, Patna standing first in first class with record marks. He became a lecturer in Political Science in Patna University at the age of nineteen. At present he lives with his wife Smt.Karuna Singh in Raj Bhavan, Gangtok. 

Education :-Master of Arts, (Pol. Sc.), Patna College, Patna University, Patna, India, First in First Class with record marks and several gold medals. Became Lecturer in Post-Graduate Department of Political Science, Patna University at the age of 19 years.Master of Arts from Oxford University, United Kingdom

Professional Background :-Joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1964. Postings held in the Indian State of Assam during 64-75 Was S.D.O., North-Lakhimpur (1966-68), Joint Secretary appointment (1968-70), Deputy Commissioner, Darrang, Tezpur (1971-72) and Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup, Guwahati 9173-75). Became life Member of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) New Delhi. 

1975-79 Deputy Secretary/Director, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, New Delhi. 

1980-82 Secretary for all Departments under the Chief Secretary and also Home Secretary, Government of Assam 1982-84 Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow. Was also member, Assam Planning Board during this period. 

1984-89 Joint Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Steel and Mines, New Delhi. Was also Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Copper Limited for one year. 

1989-90 Queen Elizabeth Fellow, Oxford University, U.K 

1990-92 Agricultural Production Commissioner and Special Commissioner and Special Secretary, Government of Assam, Agriculture. Panchayat and Rural Development, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department, Dispur, Guwahati. Was awarded Governor of Assam Gold Medal in 1991 for outstanding service in Assam. 

1992-93 Joint Secretary and later Additional Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. Devised regional planning and Development models in tribal areas. 

1993-95 Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, Chairman of the National Committee on Bio-diversity Conservation. Asia Representative on Ramar Convention on Wetlands, Gland, Switzerland. Director, Indian School of Forest Management, Bhopal for one year. Life Member of the Society for Promotion of Wasteland Development (SPWD), New Delhi. 

1995-97 Union Culture Secretary, Became Life Member of the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) organized global level Golden Jubilee celebrations of India’s Independence. Set up National Culture Fund. 

1997-99 Union Home Secretary, Secretary, Justice, Government of India and Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Affairs, Government of India. Recipient of Gulzarilal Nanda Award for the year 1998 for outstanding public service in India from the President of India. 

1999-02 Executive Director, The World Bank and its Affiliates representing India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Founder Member of the Board of Governors of Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) and member, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Washington D.C. 

15 Aug. 2002 to 8th July 2008 A variety of honorary academic and governmental assignments including (i) Chancellor of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath (Deemed to be University) (ii) Chief Editor of the South Asia Series on “Perspectives on Economics, Technology and Governance” of Oxford University Press, New York; (iii) Chairman, National Commission for Economically Backward Classes Government of India and (iv) Mahatma Gandhi National Fellow. Was presented the first Man of Letters Award set-up by Subabh International, a social service organization by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on June 11, 2003 at New Delhi. 

9th July 2008 Governor of Sikkim onwards 

Published Books :-(i) Threads Woven: Ideals , Principles & Administration, LBS Guwahati, 1975; (ii) The Indian National Congress and Cultural Renaissance, Allied Publishers , New Delhi 1987 (iii) The Problem of Change: A Study of North-East India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1987; (iv) India’s Culture: the State , the Arts and Beyond-Oxford University Press, New Delhi 1998; and (v) Bahudha and the post-9/11 World; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2008 Chief Editor of The Millennium Book on New Delhi, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001. 

Monographs : 

Published more than one hundred articles, monographs, memorial lectures and book-notes and reviews on themes of Culture, Poverty, Ecology and Public Administration in India and abroad.