Former Cabinet Secretary, Late Shri B.G.Deshmukh Conferred Paul H.Appleby Award

New Delhi, 11: The prestigious Dean Paul H. Appleby Award was conferred today to the Former Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, Late Shri Bhalchandra Gopal Deshmukh posthumously, today.  This Award was given at the Hands of the Vice-President, Shri Venkaiah Naidu here today.

This Award is instituted by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), annually since, 1998. In a major function held at IIPA, New Delhi, Shri Swadheen Kshatriya, Former Chief Secretary of Maharashtra and presently State Chief Commissioner, Right To Service and Chairman of IIPA Maharashtra Regional Branch received this prestigious Award on his behalf.  IIPA Chairman, Shri T.N.Chaturvedi and Director, Shri T.Chatterjee were also present on the occasion.

The Executive Council of the Institute unanimously recommended conferring this award to Former Distinguished IAS Officer Late Shri B.G. Deshmukh.  He was one of the senior most Members of IIPA Institute and an accomplished statesman who contributed significantly to the art and discipline of public administration in the country.

Better known as Shri B.G. Deshmukh, he held a distinguished service record with very important professional contributions in the process of development of public administration in India.  Shri Deshmukh also holds the record of being the first IAS Officer from Maharashtra in the Year 1951.  He distinguishably served in various capacities in the States of Maharashtra.  He was Secretary to the Chief Minister,the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai and Chief Secretary of Maharashtra.

Subsequently, he was called by the Prime Minister, Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi to Delhi in 1986 and appointed as the Cabinet Secretary.  In 1989, Shri Rajiv Gandhi appointed him as Principal Secretary, a post he went on to hold even under the Prime Ministership of Shri V.P.Singh and Shri Chandrashekhar.

Shri Deshmukh worked actively post retirement as well.  He took up several social causes. He co-founded the ‘Public Concern for Governance Trust’ dedicated to ensuring the enactment of laws and policies which promote ethical governance.  He was also the Chairman of Janwani, an NGO and the President and Trustee of Chhatrapti Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.

He served on the Board of several companies including the TATAs, SEBI Mutual Funds and IDBI Mutual Funds.  He productively occupied himself by associating with social and developmental organizations such as Bombay Natural History Society, KEM Hospital, National Institute for the Blind.  Shri Deshmukh has many books to his credit.  Some of them prominently popular like, “A Cabinet Secretary Thinks Aloud”, “A Cabinet Secretary Looks Around” and “Poona to Prime Minister’s Office- A Cabinet Secretary Looks Back”.