Chairman’s Profile

1. Shri Hem Pande joined Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1982 and retired as Secretary to the Government of India in 2017.
2. He is currently assigned (part time) with the task of an Independent External Monitor (IEM) for NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.) and HEC (Heavy Engineering Cooperation Ltd.), Ranchi.
3. He is also Co-Chair of Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee constituted by the Government of India in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
4. He also advises UNDP, India on Plastic Waste Management.
5. Hailing from Uttarakhand, Shri Hem Pande is a post graduate in Botany.
6. He also holds Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (Australia).
7. He has 35 years of experience as a Civil Servant and three years of teaching Botany at Kumaon University (1978-1981).
8. He was also a member of Indian Forest Service in 1981-1982.

As a civil servant he worked both in the Government of India and in the State of West Bengal on various assignments, such as:

• Secretary to the Government of India (GoI) in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
• Chairman Inter Ministerial Group on Price Stabilization of essential commodities.
• Special Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, GoI.
• Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority (Full Charge 2014-2016).
• Chairman, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee.
• Chairman, Expert Committee on Eco Sensitive Zones.
• Chairman, Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals.
• National Focal Point, United Nations Environment Programme.
• National Focal Point, UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Protocols.
• Operational Focal Point of Global Environment Facility (GEF) in India.
• Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Government of India.
• Principal Resident Commissioner and Advisor Industry, Government of West Bengal.
• District Magistrate Midnapore (1994-1997) District Magistrate Nadia (1991-1994).
• Chief Executive Officer, Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (1989-1991).
• He also chaired four UN Conferences (each week long) on behalf of the Government of India.
• He also acted as Principal Coordinator of three week duration UN Conference of Parties (cop-11 to CBD) at Hyderabad in October, 2012.