Harjit Anand

Dr. Harjit Singh Anand (born 1948 in Jalandhar) is a former senior administrator in the Government of India And Co-president of the EuroIndia Centre, Professor at the Centre for Study of Administration of Relief (Delhi) and President of the Working Group on Famine and Society of the International Sociological Association.

After obtaining a BA (Honours) in Political Science with Economics, an MA in Sociology and a PhD in Administration, he joined The INDIAN Administrative Service (IAS) in 1973. Among the various posts he has held, the following are particularly noteworthy:

• Service with the International Labour Organization at its India Office for over two years as Mission Leader for the Informal Sector.
• Director General of the Haryana Institute of Public Administration from 2002 to 2005.
• As Member Secretary, leading the National Capital Region Planning Board to adopt an environmentally progressive policy and to finance innovative urban development projects with a regional planning approach.
• Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation of the Government of India, in which capacity he was instrumental in preparing the National Housing and Habitat Policy with a clear focus on social exculsion and inclusion and low income housing.
• Close association with the formulation of the National Street Vendors Policy, with refining India’s employment programmes for the urban poor and with implementing the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
• Close association with the drafting of the Nehru Rozgar Yojna launched by the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for improving the lot of the urban poor.
• Chairman of the committee which prepared a report on “Housing – A New Pattern of Development” based on public-private partnership, commissioned by the Lt. Governor of Delhi.

Throughout his career, Anand has represented his country, often in a high-profile capacity, at various international events and bodies. He has shown sensitivity to environmental concerns and strongly advocated the adoption of a regional planning approach towards conservation of fertile agricultural land, developing green belts around towns and promoting sustainable development.

Anand has published extensively on the informal sector, poverty alleviation and socio-economic development. Apart from this, he has written poems and is involved in theatre and cinema. For his work on leprosy eradication and services to the Indian Red Cross he received a Haryana State Commendation.