User:Tusharkumarpandey/sandbox

Dr. Punyavrat Suvimalendu Pandey is an Indian academician, researcher, and administrator, known for his notable contributions to the field of agricultural research and education. He assumed the position of Vice-Chancellor at Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU) on September 26th, 2022, and has previously held the position of Additional Director General at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) since February 2015.

Early Life and Career
Dr. Pandey was born on 13th February 1964 in a small village, Rahathua of Buxar (Bihar). He did his graduation from Science College, Patna and M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the prestigious ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.

Before joining as Vice Chancellor, Dr. Pandey was serving as Assistant Director General (Education Planning & Home Science; and Education Quality Assurance and Reforms) at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. Prior to this Dr. Pandey, who belongs to the 1986 batch of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), served in various capacities as an excellent scientist and research manager with ICAR starting as Scientist at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad to National Coordinator of Organization and Management Component of National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) at ICAR headquarters, New Delhi. Dr. Pandey has more than 30 years of experience in Agricultural Research and Education where he successfully planned and executed several policies for ensuring quality education.

Dr. Pandey's contributions include planning and monitoring the central sector scheme "Strengthening and development of higher agricultural education in India" within the Agricultural Education Division of ICAR. This scheme encompasses initiatives such as Library Strengthening, Niche Area of Excellence, and Student READY programs.

He has been credited with several reforms and innovations in the National Agricultural Research System (NARS), such as the establishment of the Supercomputing Facility of Bioinformatics Grid, Agropedia-Knowledge Management Platform, Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA), Strengthening of Digital Library, e-GRANTH, e-Courses, and e-Publishing. Dr. Pandey is widely recognized as an expert in the field of ICT in Agriculture.

During his term as the National Coordinator of the Organization and Management Component of the World Bank sponsored National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) from 2011 to 2015, Dr. Pandey played a pivotal role in establishing twenty-two Incubation and Agri-Business Planning and Development Centers (IABPDC). These centers aimed to promote entrepreneurship in Agricultural Universities and ICAR institutes, ultimately fostering the emergence of Agri Start-ups in India.

Before joining as National Coordinator, Dr. Pandey worked as Principal Scientist in the Simulation and Informatics division of the IARI, New Delhi. Additionally, he also served as a Faculty Member of Bioinformatics at IARI.