Arun Arya

Arun Arya (born September 29, 1961) is a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer (1985 Batch) and an international Senior Public Finance Adviser. Arun was an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer for 20 years where he held several high-ranking positions. Arun worked as the Senior Public Sector Management Specialist for the World Bank for 16 years; Senior Sector Adviser, Water and Sanitation, for the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for 2 years; and, Senior Public Finance Adviser for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German International Cooperation) (GIZ) for 1.5 years.

Early life and education
Arun was born on September 29, 1961, in New Delhi, India. He completed his schooling at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School in New Delhi, in 1980. He then did Bachelor of Arts Honors in Economics from the St. Stephen's College, Delhi, during 1980-1983, and graduated in 1983. Subsequently, during 1983–85, he did Post Graduate Program in Management at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and earned his Post Graduate Diploma in Management (equivalent to MBA) in 1985.

He was selected for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), in 1985, following which, he attended the Foundational Course and the IAS Professional Courses at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie from August 1985 until June 1987, where he studied Law, Public Administration, Economic Policy, and Political Science. Thereafter, he started discharging his duties as an IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Career
INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE (IAS)

Arun's tenure in the IAS spanned two decades, where he worked in various capacities including the Chief Development Officer, District Magistrate, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of a Public Sector Undertaking, Divisional Commissioner, and Secretary to the State Government  of Uttar Pradesh.

As the Chief Development Officer, he facilitated the development of two districts of Uttar Pradesh, Sitapur and Azamgarh. Subsequently, he was as the District Magistrate of four districts of Uttar Pradesh - Hamirpur, Maharajganj, Barabanki, and Unnao, covering a population of 2.5 million and a geographical area of about 4,500 km2.His responsibilities as a District Magistrate included being the head of criminal administration and governance, maintenance of law and order, revenue collection, holistic development, and disposal of land disputes in revenue courts.

He served as the Divisional Commissioner of Basti Division  where his responsibilities included maintenance of law and order and comprehensive development of districts comprising the division Basti, Siddhartnagar and Sant Kabirnagar with a geographic area of 13,450 km2, and a population of 6.5 million people.

As Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of UP Electronics Corporation Limited, Arun's responsibility was to revitalize the state-owned enterprise by streamlining operations and diversifying into information technology.

His directorship at the World Bank-assisted Uttar Pradesh Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation project led to the successful implementation of SWAJALDHARA, a national water and sanitation program. He served as the Secretary to the State Government of Uttar Pradesh for two departments Rural Water Supply, and Minor Irrigation & Ground Water.

DANISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (DANIDA)

From 2004 to 2006, he served as DANIDA's Senior Sector Advisor for Water and Sanitation in Bangladesh. He formulated the Sector Development Program (SDP) for the water and sanitation sector in Bangladesh on principles of decentralization and local governance. The SDP included pro-poor thrust, cost sharing principle, and achieving 100% coverage of safe water and sanitation by 2010. The SDP was adopted and implemented by the Government of Bangladesh.

THE WORLD BANK

He joined the World Bank in December 2006 as a Senior Public Sector Management Specialist, in Republic of Yemen where he was the Task Team Leader of public finance management, governance, and anti-corruption initiatives for 4 years.

In January 2010, Arun was posted as the Senior Public Sector Management in the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC where he worked across the  Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe, Africa, Central America regions as the Task Team Leader of public finance management, governance, and anti-corruption initiatives for 5 years. During 2011-2013, he supervised the Iraq Public Financial Management (PFM) Project under the Iraq Trust Fund with a project cost of $16 million as the Task Team Leader, resulting in an increase in the disbursement rate from 3 % to 61 % between 2011 and 2013; and delivering a fully functional MTEF, Budget Strategy, and Cash Management and Commitment Control Manual. He also authored the 'Judicial Performance, Caseload and Expenditure Review in Bulgaria' for improving efficiency, effectiveness, and better utilization of public expenditure, leading to parliament accepting its recommendations.

Arun was the Senior Public Sector Specialist/ Senior Evaluation Officer in the Economic Management and Country Systems Unit of the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank in Washington DC during 2016-2017. He was the Task Team Leader leading the assessment of and preparing the Project Performance Assessment Report (PPAR) for the Sierra Leone Integrated Public Financial Management Project, eGhana Project, and Nepal Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project. He also conducted the ICR Review of El Salvador Fiscal Management and Public Sector Performance Technical Assistance Loan drawing important lessons for sequencing and prioritizing of PFM reforms. He also conducted the evaluability assessment of World Bank’s global engagement on public financial management through an in-depth portfolio analysis to assess the ‘programmatic coherence’ and, ‘stakeholder use’ of Bank’s engagement.

In January 2018, he was posted in Jakarta, Indonesia in the East Asia and the Pacific Region as the Task Team Leader of World Bank's public finance management operations for 5 years where he managed operations of a $29 million Public Financial Management (PFM) Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), as Task Manager, leading a team of about 25 Bank staff and 15 consultants. He mobilized $21.5 million to establish a new Trust Fund (PFM MDTF III) thereby arranging resources for the next 5 years (2020-2025). He conceived, prepared, and successfully tested Budget Transparency Mobile Application using FMIS data, through stakeholder consultations, for enhancing budget transparency and citizen’s participation. Arun was also the co-Task Team Leader of the Word Bank Development Policy Loan to the Republic of Indonesia that aimed to increase government revenue by broadening the tax base and facilitating tax compliance and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of spending by strengthening institutions of public expenditure. He also conducted the Institutional Diagnostic of Capital Budget Execution and Gender Public Expenditure Financial Accountability (PEFA) Assessment of Republic of Indonesia.

GERMAN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (GIZ)

In September 2022, Arun was appointed as the Senior International Public Finance Management Advisor for the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Iraq by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). As an International PFM Advisor, he supported the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning, Federal Board of Supreme Audit, and the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee of Iraq in strengthening the financial and fiscal governance systems that would enhance macro-fiscal stability and economic development, until his tenure ended in February 2024.

Licenses and Certifications
During the course of his long international career, Arun has obtained several licenses and certifications from reputed institutions. He has received certification in Public Finance Management from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants- a global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). . He earned a Certificate in Data Science from the Harvard Business School {Credential ID (CeDiD): 21N7-UV8R-AYAM}. Arun received certifications in Enterprise Architecture from the Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) - Foundation course and Certification course, achieving high distinctions in all.