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Dr. B.L. Agrawal (IAS)

Dr. B.L. Agrawal, a career Civil Servant from the Indian Administrative Service, Chhattisgarh cadre (1988), has put in almost 30 years of service in various capacities and in his last assignment he was posted as Principal Secretary and Commissioner Higher Education Department in the Govt. of Chhattisgarh. Immediately prior to this posting he served as Secretary General Administration Department and Revenue Department in the Govt. of Chhattisgarh.

He holds a Ph.D. from Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University Raipur (thesis: "Women Empowerment in Chhattisgarh: A Socio-Economic Analysis") and a Masters degree (Gold Medal) in Political Science and International Law from the Department of Political Science, Durga College, Raipur (Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University). He graduated from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack with a First Class Honors Degree in political science. He has also obtained a MBA Degree in Finance from IGNOU.

Dr. Agrawal was one of the few officers to have the privilege to setup the Secretariat and the New Offices in the year 2000 when Chhattisgarh State was carved out from the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh State. At this point of time he was posted as District Collector of Durg District and was part of the core team under the Divisional Commissioner Raipur to oversee the setup of the new capital and accommodation / Transfer etc. of huge number of officers and employees who were to come from Bhopal to Raipur. Later on he served the new state of Chhattisgarh in various capacities like Joint Secretary, Addl. Secretary, Secretary and then as Principal Secretary. Dr. Agrawal served in various departments such as Water Resources, Energy, Women and Child Development, Social Welfare, School Education, Health and Family Welfare, Labour, Revenue Administration, General Administration, Higher Education etc. Dr. Agrawal also served in the Election Department and worked as Joint/Addl. Chief Electoral Officer and also as Chief Electoral Officer for many years. He played a crucial and pivotal role in the delimitation of various constituencies under the guidance of The Election Commission of India which appreciated the work done by Dr. Agrawal in very many words. Dr. Agrawal played a crucial and pivotal role in reducing the infant mortality rate from 95 to 64 when he was Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department. He was also instrumental in taking forward the largest community volunteer scheme i.e. the Mitanin Program which transformed the health scenario of this Bimaru State i.e. Chhattisgarh and saved thousands of lives from common diseases like diarrhea, dissentry and malaria in the far flung remote and forest areas of the State. In fact this was an idea he borrowed from Madagaskar where he had gone for a World Bank sponsored training program. Later on this best practice of Chhattisgarh was replicated at the National level under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Dr. Agrawal was appointed by Govt. of India as a Member of the Drafting and Screening Committee of NRHM. The Mitanin Program found place under NRHM as "ASHA" (Accredited Social Health Activist). Dr. Agrawal was also instrumental in setting up of the Medical College in Bastar in the year 2005-07 which played important role in saving the lives of hundreds of Jawans who were victims of left wing extremism. During his tenure as Health Secretary, Chhattisgarh was declared leprosy free and various other health indicators also recorded remarkable improvement. Dr Agrawal also had the privilege to present the success story of the Mitanin Programme in an international seminar and training programme at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. As Labour Secretary, Dr Agrawal formed the Chhattisgarh Karmkar Mandal for the first time in the State. This body today has huge resources and catering to the needs of lakhs of labourers in the unorganized sector. He also carried out several other important labour reforms with far reaching consequences. He attended one international training programme on management of human trafficking organized by ILO at Turin (Italy). As Revenue and General Administration Department Secretary, he successfully accomplished the task of shifting the capital from Raipur to New Raipur and made the new Secretariat building i.e Mahanadi Bhawan operational. Similarly the HOD complex i.e Satpura was also made operational by him. It is during his tenure that new Collectorate buildings were sanctioned for all the newly created districts of the State. During his tenure as principal secretary Higher Education Department, numerous steps were taken to improve the GER of the state and under the RUSA Program massive infrastructure for the Colleges and Universities of the state were sanctioned. For the first time several colleges underwent through the accreditation process and secured A Grade from NAAC. He is married to Smt. Sangeeta Agrawal and is blessed with a daughter Saloni and son Samarth.