Ram Subhag Singh assumed the office of the Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh, here today. A Himachal Pradesh Cadre IAS officer of 1987 batch Ram Subhag Singh has held several important assignments within and out of the State and was instrumental for various innovations. Born on 31 July, 1963 Ram Subhag Singh has a vast administrative experience of 34 years.
After assuming office, Ram Subhag Singh expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur for this responsibility and said that while working as the Chief Secretary, his priority would be to take the flagship programmes of the government to the people. Ram Subhag Singh said that he would ensure that the commitment and responsiveness of the State government towards the people reaches the common man and pace of developmental works was accelerated. He said that it would be his foremost responsibility to comply with the orders of the Chief Minister and to keep him apprised of the feedback from time to time.
Working as Assistant Commissioner from June 1989 to June 1990, he was responsible for execution of developmental programmes on rural employment, poverty alleviation, empowerment of women, rural housing, maternal and child care at grass root level. He was directly concerned with addressing people’s problems at local level in a participatory manner. While holding the charge of ADC (Development) cum CEO Zila Parishad, way back in 1992, he launched total literacy campaign ‘Akshar Dhara’ which was beneficial to many. Setting up of higher educational institutions, orphanage and vocational centres were the key achievements during his tenure as Resident Commissioner, Pangi.
Working as District Magistrate Shimla, he implemented the Non-biodegradable Garbage Control Act, first of its kind in the country. Initiated to encourage community participation in developmental works, he emphasised on skill development of rural youth besides improvising new techniques for farming and irrigation to increase farmers’ income.
Ram Subhag Singh worked with Union Food Minister, Govt. of India from October 1999 to July 2002. The ministry was responsible for providing food security to the country with focus on those living below the poverty line. During this period, ‘Antyodaya Anna Yojana’ was launched for the poorest of the poor covering population of around 50 million.
Working in the Ministry of Defence as Director Ordnance and Quartering from August 2003 to April 2005, he introduced e-auction for disposal of Stores. A massive project of 80 million dollars was prepared for computerisation of Ordnance store. He was nominated to attend a course at the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Hawaii.
He also worked as Joint Secretary (Navy), Ministry of Defence from September 2011 to November 2014. During this period he ensured smooth seamless interface for operational matters of Navy and Coast Guard with the Government and also ensured timely and discreet handling of matters including top secrets relating to strategic forces and strategic matters.
During May 2005 to December 2006, he worked as PS to Union Minister of State for External Affairs. An innovative project for e-connectivity was formulated and this was the time when India, as part of G-4, took the initiative for the expansion of the United Nations Security Council and United Nations Reforms. The Minister was in-charge for this initiative and Ram Subhag Singh accompanied the Minister for various multilateral meetings and the ASEAN Regional Forum.
During the posting as Managing Director NAFED, he formulated norms for marketing support to facilitate the farmers to get reasonable prices for their produce and created Price Stabilisation Fund for Pulses for the first time.
Discharging duties of Deputy Director General (Regional Head), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) he monitored over 2500 enrolment centres and operators manning these centres. Created an environment where benefits of welfare schemes, efficiently reached the targeted beneficiaries through biometric authentication.
He also worked as Commissioner (Tourism), Secretary Home, Agriculture, Horticulture, Information & Public Relations in Himachal Pradesh. Before assuming the charge of Chief Secretary, Ram Subhag Singh was working as Additional Chief Secretary Industries, Power, Forests, Tourism, Transport and Urban Development during 2018 to 2021.
He has visited more than two dozen countries. He was awarded Chancellor’s Gold Medal for being the best student of Allahabad University in the year 1985. The then Army Chief acknowledged his exemplary efforts for the resettlement of Kargil War widows.
