User:SAMPATH K IYENGAR

S S Kumar Sampath K Iyengar aka S S Kumar was born in Kolkata on 1st April 1952. He studied in the National High Schools, Kolkata and completed his graduation from Asutosh College, Kolkata. He obtained a degree in law from Calcutta University and holds a diploma in Textile technology.

Married to Radha, he has two children, Vinita and Arvind.

He served a brief stint in the Supreme Court of India later took charge of his family business. He has long been associated with industrial activities and represented several trade bodies. He was the President of the Indian Leather Industries Association for 6 years (1992-98) and served as the Regional Chairman of the Council for Leather Exports sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce & Industries, GOI (1998-2002). He was elected as the National Chairman of the Council for Leather Exports and served a full term(2004-05).

Kumar was one of the prime movers of the relocation of the Kolkata tanneries from Topsia, Tiljala and Tangra belt to the modern Kolkata Leather Complex. He has represented the Project Standing Committee, Leather Technology, GOI; was the Chairman of the Steering committee for the relocation of the tanneries to the CLC, represented the State level Management Committee - National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Managing Committee of the FIEO, CII, Footwear Design and Development Institute, as well as the Central Leather Research Institute. He was the Co-Chairman of the FICCI Leather Panel(ER). He is an executive member of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce and its Chairman of the committee on industry and a member of the High Power Committee on Calcutta Leather Complex, set up by the Government. He has also been also a member of the task force for monitoring the implementation of Corporate Responsibility in Environmental Protection, set up by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India. He presently represents Council for Leather Exports as its Panel Chairman for Core Committee on the Animal Welfare Programme and the Committee on Bureau of Indian Standards.

Kumar coordinated the visit of several industry delegations to various countries in the world, noteworthy amongst them with the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Shri Buddhadev Bhattacharjee. Initiated by Kumar, the MOU signed during the visit of the then Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Romano Prodi to Kolkata saw the birth of the Tanning Training & Service Center set up with the assistance of the Italian Government in Kolkata. In his tenure as the Chairman CLE, the Wal-Mart was invited to India and the Indian export initiatives with the global retailer began.

Kumar is closely connected with Administration of Academic Institutions. He has been the President of the National High Schools, Kolkata for 11 years, and is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Government College of Engineering & Leather Technology, GOWB. He has also been the Vice President of ASIDE, a school of National excellence, dedicated to specially empowered children.

Kumar is a keen social worker and has been associated with several social upliftment projects in and around West Bengal. He is also a keen sportsman and has been the founder president of the of the Kolkata chapter of the Bengal Non-Olympic Association; He is a member of the Indian Life Saving Society. He is a naturalist and a keen photographer and is a member of the Royal Photographic Society, England. He has regularly held photo exhibitions in India and abroad and has published two Coffee Table Books, one each on Sundarban and Darjeeling. His other hobbies are writing poetry, painting, reading and traveling particularly to wild life parks and forests. His has written a novel, christened the Frozen Waves launched in 2012 June.

In recognition of his services to the industry, the Italian Government honoured him with the second highest civilian award, Knighthood of the order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2006.