New Delhi: Senior Odisha-born IAS officer Pramod Kumar Mishra is the new principal secretary to prime minister Narendra Modi.

A 1972-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, Mishra has replaced senior bureaucrat Nripendra Misra who took leave of the office voluntarily.

A man from Sambalpur, Mishra is one of the few top bureaucrats to be retained by Modi government after returning to power for the second time. He was earlier serving as the additional secretary to the PM in the rank and status of cabinet minister.

Mishra with a doctorate in economics has served the Gujarat government and the government of India in various key positions. He was awarded UN Sasakawa Award in 2019 for disaster management.

Mishra is the proponent of lateral entry in the senior bureaucracy of the Central government.

Mishra has varied work experience in the management of programmes relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector,infrastructure financing, and regulatory issues and has an outstanding career profile comprising research, publications, policy formulation and programme/project management.

He has vast experience in policy making and administration and has handled major assignments such as additional principal. secretary to the prime minister; secretary, agriculture and cooperation, government of India; chairman, State Electricity Regulatory Commission and in the area of disaster management.

As secretary agriculture & Cooperation, he was actively involved in path breaking national initiatives such as the National Agriculture Development Programme (RKVY) and the National Food Security Mission (NFSM).

As Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister during 2014-19 Mishra is credited with introducing innovation and transformative changes in human resource management, particularly appointments to senior positions.

Mishra’s publications include:

• The Kutch Earthquake 2001: Recollection Lessons and Insights, National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi, India (2004).

• Agricultural Risk, Insurance and Income: A Study of the Impact and Design of India’s Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme, Avebury, Aldershot, UK (1996).

• Edited Development and Operation of Agricultural Insurance Schemes in Asia, Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo, Japan (1999). He has also contributed articles and reviews to many international journals.