Raj Kumar VERMA

Biography

Raj Kumar VERMA has been a member of the civil service in the Government of Nagaland since 1983 and is presently Joint Secretary. During his first 10 years of service, he was posted in the most remote areas in Nagaland where, in addition to his administrative responsibilities, he assisted in the implementation of programs at the local level through the UN award winning Village Development Boards and Communitisation Programme. He is working with eternally aided projects, notably the NEPED project (as Deputy Team Leader), besides others . His interests lie in sustainable development in tribal areas and improved methods in agro-forestry, especially pertaining to areas where shifting cultivation (Swidden) is practiced, renewable energy issues, climate change and people-led approaches. He is trained in facilitation and moderation skills which he uses in project management and social mobilisation programmes.

He is skilled in Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation methodologies, especially Outcome Mapping, soft skills training and project design. Raj has served with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK government as a LEAD intern in the Environment Policy Department in the rank of First Secretary. He assisted in developing the UK strategy towards WSSD, Johanesburg.

In 2001 he has been made a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and presented a paper on use of Outcome Mapping at the AEA conference at St. Louis, Mo. (USA). He has also been invited on the board of the Moderation Group, a core team in India dedicated to the spread of moderation/ facilitation in decision making, development and other spheres for participatory and sustainable development.

He has done several consultancies for international donors like ICIMOD, IFAD, IDRC, World Bank, CIDA, Governments of Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bangladesh etc. and is associated with The Missing Link, an Environment Education and Communications NGO. He has worked on secondment with the LEAD India Secretariat as Director Programs, and was responsible for the Associate training of Cohort 10 and 11. His other skill lies in Resource Mobilisation that has enabled him to raise funds for several causes.

He was also a member of LEAD's Capacity Development Team and has attended Training of Trainers in Cross Cultural Communications, Ethical Decision Making and Negotiating for Sustainable Development.

Besides his normal government assignments, he is Principal Mentor for the Climate Change Leaders program in North East India. He is member of numerous boards like the Nagaland E-governance Mission Team, Climate Change Task Force, Electricity Regulatory Commission, South Asian Community of Evaluators and Project Director for the World Bank funded North East Rural Livelihoods Project in Nagaland. He has recently been elected to the Board of Directors of LEAD India

This biography was last updated on October 8, 2009