SM Vijayanand
Former Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI
Mr. Vijayanand is an officer of the 1981 batch of the IAS, belonging to the Kerala cadre. Almost his entire career was in Rural Development, Local Governance, and Decentralized Planning. He coordinated Kerala's People's Planning for fifteen years. During this period he nurtured Kudumbashree, a highly successful SHG programme in the country and was active in moulding the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) into an institution of excellence in the training of Elected Representatives. As Secretary of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj during 2015-16, he was instrumental in introducing the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) in the country.
