Dr. Aruna Sharma, an Indian Administrative Officer of 1982 batch Madhya Pradesh
Cadre retired after her work as Secretary of Steel and Information Technology in the government of India. She has always focused on having a comprehensive approach and establishing a system in all her postings for ensuring sustainable quality outcomes. She has books reaching the Last Beneficiary: Resource Convergence Mantra Model (2008) and Impact of Recourse Convergence in Policy Making, Mainstreaming of Resource Convergence in Policy Making Program Design and Execution (2014), released by UNDP. FAO has also published her work on food security. Her latest work is the book U@Game Changer for Inclusive Growth for public representatives. Her article on “The Samagra
anti‐poverty program in Madhya Pradesh: Integrating household data, overcoming silo‐problems, and leaving nobody behind“ is published in electronic version and in print will come in April 2021 in Development Policy Review. Her new book, Dancing Towards the $5 Trillion Economy, on Holistic Beat.
As Secretary Steel drafted and successfully executed Steel Policy and preferential procurement policy. The GFR amendment set the trend to enhance domestic demand and was key to the revival of the sector. Logistic improvements were planned and envisioned by getting a ‘right of way policy’ from Railways for slurry pipelines and maximum usage of Sagarmala routes.
At State and Center, she has visualized, worked, and implemented successful software like SAMAGRA ( a household wise common database) used by all the individual and family benefit schemes, now implemented in 8 states, Panch Parmeshwar has made the entire working of Panchayat, Block, and district for all works executed cashlessly. This graduated to Priya Soft. The software is real-time data of all the receipts expenditures by the Panchayat irrespective of the source of funding. Besides, all receipts and payments are cashless. It generates all the statutory 8 reports required by CAG in auto mode. The Panchayat only has to enter the project estimates and cash book and upload bills and photographs of the status of work. It is online on the web, and any Panchayat can be viewed and monitored. The financial inclusion model involving all kinds of financial institutions to ensure access in 5km radius was developed along with the popularization of the RuPay card. Besides, envisaged and by coordination, developed a common National Scholarship portal and GeM portal for procurement, to list a few. She was Secretary of Information Technology and later Secretary of Steel in the government of India. She was instrumental in bringing in a comprehensive approach and has visualized and drafted the National Steel Policy 2017 and a clear policy on preference for local manufacturing that has enabled the complete revival of the sector. The amendment to GFR rules by adding the life cycle cost has been the game-changer.
She was also Director General Doordarshan where she gave world-class coverage to Commonwealth Games 2010 and that sent benchmark. Doordarshan channels went up in TRP and revenue generation in her tenure. Her focus of work is also in the area of Water Security and enhancing local jobs. Access to preventive health care has been the focus when she worked as Secretary of Health and Family Welfare. The focus has been on holistic care in terms of drinking water, sanitation, preventive hygiene and vaccination, and access to inpatient. She has been a member of the National Knowledge Commission on health care and education. Her doctoral work is on psycho-barriers in access to public health care. She has worked extensively with policymakers for the revival of mining in Goa and the new draft of the proposed mining policy.
She was in the 5 member High-Level RBI committee on Deepening of Digital Payments constituted by the Reserve Bank of India- a report that had immediate execution.
She is a Fellow with the University of Bath in the UK and working on accelerating the success and sustainability of SDGs by resorting to the common household database. She is an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School. Her forte is development, core sectors, and environmental issues. She regularly writes for Financial Express, Economic Times, and CNBC 18. She is an independent director with SRO of MFIN, Welspun Infra, Arjas Steel Pvt Limited, IQuippino besides a lot of pro bono work in the field of development, core sector, and environment.
