Former Union health secretary Keshav Desiraju has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Governing Board of the Population Foundation of India (PFI).
He, a retired civil servant, was an IAS officer from the 1978 batch of the Uttarakhand cadre. He has a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a Masters degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He has held many positions with the Government of Uttarakhand, the Government of Uttar Pradesh, and the Government of India and retired as the Union Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs.
About the appointment, Poonam Muttreja, executive director, PFI said After the valuable contribution of Dr. Vinay Bharat-Ram, PFI is both privileged to have Keshav Desiraju as PFI's Chairperson. His experience in a range of sectors, especially as Union health secretary, will greatly compliment and strengthen PFI's programmes.
PFI, a national NGO, promotes and advocates for the effective formulation and implementation of gender sensitive population, health and development strategies and policies. The founder and first Chairperson of PFI was the late eminent JRD Tata.