Submission declined on 17 February 2026 by Bonadea (talk). This draft's references do not show that the person meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for people. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that: provide significant coverage: discuss the person in detail, not brief mentions or interviews lacking independent analysis; are reliable: from reputable outlets with editorial oversight; are independent: not connected to the person, such as interviews, press releases, the subject's own website, or sponsored content. Please add references that meet all three of these criteria. If none exist, the subject is not yet suitable for Wikipedia. If you would like to continue working on the submission, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window. If you have not resolved the issues listed above, your draft will be declined again and potentially deleted. If you need extra help, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. Please do not remove reviewer comments or this notice until the submission is accepted. Where to get help If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews. If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed. How to improve a draft Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia. Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Add tags to your draft Editor resources Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs Declined by Bonadea 3 months ago. Last edited by Bearcat 3 months ago. Reviewer: Inform author. Resubmit Please note that if the issues are not fixed, the draft will be declined again.

• Comment: In accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation's Terms of Use, I disclose that I have been paid by my employer for my contributions to this article. Apavayan-tattva (talk) 12:29, 17 February 2026 (UTC)

Amod Kumar (born 25 July 1971) is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1995 batch, Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is known for his contributions to e-governance, public health, education, and grievance redressal in India. He holds a B.Tech and M.Tech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School.^[1] He ranked 5th in India in the Civil Services Examination.^[2]

Kumar was the youngest recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2008 for his pioneering e-Governance initiative Lokvani.^[3] India Today (July 2010) featured him as one of India's 35 "action heroes" making a difference, and Forbes India (August 2012) recognised him as a promising young leader of India.^[2]

Amod Kumar was born on 25 July 1971 in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), Uttar Pradesh. He was brought up in rural Uttar Pradesh, with close relatives being farmers or government servants in lower ranks. This rural upbringing gave him a first-hand understanding of grassroots realities in India.^[2]

He completed his B.Tech and M.Tech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur). He later earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School, United States. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies from the Institute of Developing Economies Advanced School (IDEAS), Japan, and has studied at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIM Lucknow).^[4]

Amod Kumar joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1995 after ranking 5th in the Civil Services Examination. He was allotted the Uttar Pradesh cadre and has over 29 years of administrative experience in India's most populous state.^[2]

Kumar began his career as Joint Magistrate and subsequently served as Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Rae Bareli. He later served as District Magistrate of Sitapur and Faizabad (now Ayodhya), where he demonstrated strong leadership in public welfare, revenue administration, and developmental initiatives.^[4]

From 2014 to 2017, Kumar served as Secretary to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Prior to that, he had also served as Special Secretary to the Chief Minister. In these roles, he acted as a key policy advisor and implementer of governance innovations for the state government.^[4]

Kumar held several senior positions in the Government of Uttar Pradesh, including:

• Principal Secretary (Planning) and Principal Secretary (General Administration)
• Member (Judicial), Board of Revenue, Uttar Pradesh – the highest policymaking body in the state for land management and administration^[1]
• Senior roles in departments of Health, Revenue, Information Technology, Excise, and Judicial Administration^[5]

Kumar served as Deputy Director General (Joint Secretary equivalent) at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.^[6] In May 2025, he was empanelled by the Government of India for appointment to Joint Secretary-level posts at the Centre.^[5] He was subsequently appointed Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).^[4]

Initiated in 2004 during his tenure as District Magistrate of Sitapur, Lokvani was a pioneering e-Governance experiment in India. It was the first initiative of its kind in the country that combined two innovations: Public-Private Partnership (PPP) based kiosks in rural areas for providing Government-to-Citizen (G2C) services, and an online grievance redressal system for the general public.^[2]

The Common Service Centre (CSC) scheme later rolled out by the Government of India was based primarily on learnings from Lokvani and similar experiments. As of 2024, there are approximately 4 lakh CSCs in India providing G2C and B2C services online to citizens.^[2]

The online grievance redressal system, initially conceptualised as part of Lokvani, was later upscaled into a full-fledged Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS) of Uttar Pradesh called Jansunwai, under Kumar's leadership. The CM Helpline 1076 was subsequently added to this portal. Over 10 million (1 crore) grievances have been handled by this system.^[2]

Kumar played a key role in the launch of the 1090 Women Helpline in Uttar Pradesh by providing backend support including securing the number, budget, and office venue. Over 1.7 million (17 lakh) women in Uttar Pradesh have used this helpline for reporting distress.^[2]

To address corruption in duty allocation of approximately 150,000 Home Guards in Uttar Pradesh, Kumar initiated a software-based duty allocation system, starting with a pilot in Ayodhya district. Despite initial resistance, the system was eventually implemented statewide and has been replicated by other states in India.^[2]

In his policymaking roles in the health sector, Kumar introduced several technology innovations including:

• mSakhi – a mobile application for maternal and newborn healthcare
• mSehat – a mobile health project covered as a case study in the WHO's third global survey on eHealth (2016)
• An IVRS-based system for monitoring the mid-day meal programme^[1]

He also served on the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for the Better Birth trial of the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist.^[3]

Kumar played a critical role in resolving court cases and creating the necessary political and health system coherence for the launch of ambulance services statewide in Uttar Pradesh.^[2]

• Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration (2008) – youngest recipient; the highest award for a civil servant in India^[3]
• United Nations Public Service Award^[2]
• Stockholm Challenge Award – Special Mention for e-Governance project (2006)^[2]
• Golden Icon Award – for e-Governance initiatives (won twice)^[2]
• e-Governance Champion Award^[3]
• Featured by India Today (July 2010) as one of India's 35 "action heroes" making a difference in the country^[3]
• Featured by Forbes India (August 2012) as a promising young leader of India^[2]

• "Lokvani – e-empowering the people", presented at the International Conference on Electronic Governance, Lahore, 2005
• "Best Practices of Lokvani", published in the Journal of Management in Government, 2006

Kumar has collaborated extensively with international organisations including the World Bank, United Nations, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and USAID on projects related to health, nutrition, and governance in Uttar Pradesh. He has visited approximately 50 countries and hundreds of villages during his field postings.^[2]

• Official website
• Profile at Ideas for India
• Profile at India Development Review

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Indian Administrative Service officers Category:IIT Kanpur alumni Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni Category:Indian civil servants