Shailaja Chandra

Shailaja Chandra’s distinguished career in the Indian Administrative Service (1966 batch) spans nearly six decades, covering public administration, health systems, governance, education, environment, and gender policy. She is among the rare civil servants to have contributed extensively even after retirement, serving as administrator, researcher, policy analyst, writer, and opinion leader. During her service, she held leadership roles in the Union Government and states/UTs. As Chief Secretary, Delhi (2001–2004), she became the first and only woman to hold this post, steering landmark reforms: the switch to CNG in public transport, privatisation of electricity distribution, and property tax rationalisation. Delhi won the UN Public Service Award for transparency and accountability during her tenure. Earlier, as Secretary, Indian Systems of Medicine & Homeopathy, she established the National Medicinal Plants Board, created the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to protect indigenous medical heritage, and modernised drug regulation. She also executed large-scale national health projects including cataract blindness eradication (11 million surgeries), World Bank malaria control programmes, and CGHS partnerships with private hospitals. After retirement in 2004, she continued in public service. As Chairman, Delhi PGC and Information Commissioner, she pioneered integration of grievance redressal and RTI, later cited by the World Bank as an innovation in service delivery. As the first Executive Director, National Population Stabilisation Fund (2006–09), she launched GIS mapping of health facilities (winning the Best e-Health Award), set up reproductive health call centres, and introduced incentive schemes for responsible parenthood. Her later work combined governance with research and institution-building. She authored two national reports on Indian Medicine & Folk Healing (2011, 2013), served on the TSR Subramanian Committee on National Education Policy (2015), and revived legacy institutions as Chairman of the Delhi Public Library Board and Governing Bodies of Delhi University colleges. Internationally, she held fellowships at IAS Nantes (2012) and Shiv Nadar University (2016), producing influential reports on probity in public life and unqualified medical practice. From 2018–21, she co-chaired the NGT-appointed Yamuna Monitoring Committee, delivering five accepted reports on pollution abatement. In 2021, she was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Literature by the University of Transdisciplinary Health Sciences for her contributions to ISM and TKDL. Alongside, she served as Independent Director on corporate boards, chaired CHETNA (Ahmedabad), and advised NGOs like Pratham and CanSupport. She has written or co-authored for OECD, WHO, Lancet, J-AIM, and published over 150 op-eds in national dailies. Her podcasts on health, population, energy, and governance are streamed on Apple, Spotify, and Google. Throughout her career, she has consistently revitalised institutions, championed reform, and bridged policy with practice — continuing to be recognised as an authority on public administration, health, and governance.