User:Keshab C.Pradhan

Keshab C. Pradhan

Keshab C. Pradhan (born June 9, 1935, Gangtok) is Plantsman-cum-bureaucrat residing in the State of Sikkim in India. He has the distinction of being the most knowledgeable plantsman in the Eastern Himalayas.

Early Life Hails from renowned Pradhan family of the region. Pradhan did his graduation with Honours in Botany from prestigious Presidency College, Calcutta in 1954 followed by Associate of Indian Forest College (AIFC) from Dehradun, India, and Master of Forestry (MF) from Yale University, USA.

Career

Joined Sikkim Forest Service in 1959 in the erstwhile Kingdom of Sikkim and headed the Department of Forestry as its Chief Conservator of Forests for good 15 years.Switched on to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1978 with 1962 'year of allotment' and headed the State Administration as Chief Secretary before super-annuation in 1993. During his long tenure of 34 years of service he initiated many innovative programmes in the field of nature conservation and projected Sikkim as the premier eco-tourist destination. He was responsible to bring India in limelight in the field of Orchids and Floriculture as a whole. For his pioneering works the American Rhododendron Society awarded the Gold Medal in 2003 and prestigious Pioneer Achievement Award in 2005. The latest being VMM (Veitch Memorial Medal ) by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in UK in 2011. He has authored three books: Life and Times of a Plantsman in the Sikkim Himalayas (Memoir) 2008; Sikkim and the World of Rhododendrons 2010, and Sikkim and the World of Primulas 2012. Currently he is the leading hybridizer of Cattleya orchids in India and also heads the NGOs: Sikkim Development Foundation, and Sikkim Senior Citizens' Society- the 'think-tank' among the Civil Society in the State.