In a path-breaking move, the Centre has brought in former bureaucrat to lead Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project Swachchh Bharat Mission. Parameswaran Iyer, a renowned sanitation expert, took voluntary retirement from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) six years ago. He has been appointed as Secretary to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on contract basis for two years.
The Uttar Pradesh cadre 1981-batch IAS officer from Tamil Nadu was working with the World Bank on several sanitation projects. “Parameswaran Iyer, IAS (Voluntary Retired (UP:1981) as Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on contract basis for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or till further orders, whichever is earlier,” said an official communiqué.
Iyer gained reputation after the success of Jal Suraj programme in UP. He resigned from the civil service in 2009 and joined World Bank as Senior Water and Sanitation Specialist in Washington, DC. In 1998, he worked with World Bank on similar projects.
Fondly called Param by his colleagues, the new head of Swachchh Bharat had worked with water supply and sanitation programmes in Hanoi, Egypt, lebanon. “Param is Programme leader and lead Water and Sanitation Specialist in the Hanoi office of the World Bank, where he has been working on water supply and sanitation issues since June 2012. He previously worked in Washington on Egypt and lebanon and prior to that in the Bank’s Water Anchor. He has led two bank operations in Vietnam using the new Programme for Results lending instrument and is currently working on a third focusing on sanitation in the Northern Mountains and Central Highlands regions. He has over 20 years of experience in the water supply and sanitation sector,” said the World Bank blog.