BIO-DATA
Name / : / Dr. SANTHOSH BABU, I.A.S.Qualification / : / M.B.B.S.
Occupation / : / Civil Servant belonging to the 1995 batch of Indian Administrative Service, Tamil Nadu Cadre, Currently MD, ELCOT, & Director, e-Governance and CEO, TNeGA, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.
Scholarships / : / Underwent the British Chevening Gurukul Scholarship in Leadership & Excellence Programme 2004’ of the British Council at the London School of Economics & Political Science 2004.
Awards / : / Was the recipient of the Dataquest E-Governance Champion Award, South India, for 2006.
Best Collector Award of the Govt. of Tamil Nadu for Child Labour eradication, 2007-08 (Web based tracking and monitoring system for all Out of School Children
Recognition / : / Was recognized by the Indian Express in its annual publication of 2007 , the “Pride of Tamil Nadu “ as one of the five persons in Tamil Nadu who have made a difference in various aspects of public life.
Was recognized by Ananda Vikatan Magazine as one of the “top ten people” of Tamil Nadu in 2008
Papers presented / : / Presented a paper on ‘Change Management’ at the 7thNational e-governance Conference at Chennai in November 2003
E-Gov Initiatives / :
1. Created the first paperless Government office in Tamil Nadu at the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women Ltd, Chennai in Nov 2001, while serving as the Executive Director.
2. 100% computerized the Chief Minister’s Special Cellwhile serving as the Special Officer, Chief Minister’s Special Cell, Secretariat.
3. Initiated & executed the computerization of all 14 Block Development offices in Tiruvallur district while serving as the Additional Collector Development & Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Tiruvallur district. This was a first in the state.
4. Created the infrastructure for spreading the use of information technology as a developmental tool by launching the RASI project (rural access service through the internet) in Sivaganga using the Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) technology for last mile connectivity, while serving as the District Collector of Sivaganga district.
5. Personally designed the following websites
6. Was in the forefront of the Department of Rural Development in installing computers in all 12,618 village panchayats of Tamil Nadu.
7. Assisted NIC in developing the Tamil software for National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 2005.
8. As Collector Krishnagiri developed a web based Out of School Children Tracking & Monitoring system This is the first such tracking software in the country.
9. As Collector, Krishnagiri, developed Tamil Nadu’s first web based grievance redressal system at Krishnagiri.
10. Created the Country’s first Rural Call Centre, FOSTeRA (Fostering Technologies in Rural Areas), at Hosur for Naxal affected youth.
11. Developed a web based software for Uzhavar Sandai (Farmer’s Market) (First time in Tamil Nadu)
12. Developed a web based software for Varumun Kappom Scheme (Village medical camps) (First time in Tamil Nadu) .
13. Developed a Vision Hosur 2015 document.
14. Proposed e-District project to GoI and got sanction for Rs.2.67 Crores.
15. Created a corpus of Fund in Perpetuity of Rs.1.00 crore from 100 people. The concept called "Fund in Perpetuity" has allowed the Public to become Life members of the Krishnagiri Sports Development Society by paying Rs.1.00 lakh by cheque, for which they are issued with a receipt which explicitly states that this is a refundable contribution and can be withdrawn after a lock in period of 1 year. Only the interest portion is used on a monthly basis.
A similar Rs.1.00 crore was raised for the professional maintenance of Govt. Hospital Krishnagiri
16. / Experience in advocacy of child rights: / When appointed the Additional Commissioner of Labour, Child Labour Monitoring Cell, I was probably the first IAS officer in the country appointed by any Government exclusively to deal with the issue of child labour in Tamil Nadu.Convergence: The Child Labour Monitoring Cell was hitherto been involved only in reporting the action taken on the directions of the Honourable Supreme Court of India regarding child labour. Under my leadership, the Cell was converted as the nucleus of all anti child labour activities in the state like the National Child Labour Projects (NCLP in 12 districts, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in all districts and the INDUS (Indo-US) child labour project in five districts. We established direct channels of communication and convergence among the Factories department, SSA (Education Department), Departments of Social Defence, Public Relations, Police, Health, Revenue, Rural Development, Social Welfare, UNICEF, ILO, NGO’s and Government of India, Trade Unions, Employers Federations, Panchayat Raj Institutions, SHGs, parents and children, the key stakeholders. 70,000 child labourers identified in the SSA survey are being rehabilitated as also the economic rehabilitation of their families.
Society: Established the State Child Labour Rehabilitation cum Welfare Society under the aegis of the Labour Department to spearhead all anti child labour activities in Tamil Nadu. Massive awareness was created through Doordarshan and All India Radio, hoardings, exhibitions, wall paintings, dramas, street plays etc. The anti child labour day, Women’s day and Children’s day were effectively utilized to spread the message against child labour. I have myself been on Doordarshan TV programme on child labour.
Child Labour Magazine: I initiated the publication of a bimonthly magazine exclusively on child labour called ‘Kuruthu” with UNICEF funding.
Publications: The Action Plan, documentation of Children’s Day celebrations, handbook for enforcement personnel, and brochure on INDUS project were brought out.
Web site: Designed a website on child labour for the state child labour rehabilitation cum welfare society. The URL is
Web Based Child Labour Monitoring System: Designed this system. This is India’s first web based “Out of School Children” Tracking & Monitoring System as District Collector, Krishnagiri. It was launched by the Hon’ble Minister for School Education. This is incorporated in the website
17. / Experiences in advocacy of gender issues: / While serving as the Executive Director of Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women Ltd., I was one of the active promoters of the concept of convergence among all Government Departments, NGO’s, other development agencies, and GOI. I assisted the CMD in drafting a Government Order on convergence. This was issued as a government order. It is considered as a watershed in Governance.
Social Mobilization: During my tenure as ED, the number of Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women in Tamil Nadu increased from 60,000 to 1, 23,000. Each SHG consists of about 15 to 20 women.
Credit Linkage and Economic Activities: During my tenure as ED the credit linkage increased by Rs.121 crores. Thanks to the EDP training programme for one lakh women every year, a large number of women took to successful entrepreneurial ventures. I was also one of pioneers in the implementation of the SGSY (Swarna Jayanthi Grama Swarozgar Yojan) programme by involving SHGs in Tiruvallur district.
Federations: Towards helping the SHGs to stand on their own feet and not depend on either government or NGOs, the importance of forming federations of SHGs at the Panchayat level (PLF) was voiced by me. This became the policy of the Government of Tamil Nadu and currently all SHGs are being federated.
Literacy: The literacy rates among SHGs were less than 30% whereas the state average for women in general is 65%. I piloted a scheme whereby each SHG member would be made literate, by training one literate member of each SHG to become a literacy trainer. This scheme called Mahalir Arivoli Thittam became a budgeted item in 2002-2003.
Mutram Magazine: From a circulation of a mere 17,000 copies, I increased the circulation of this magazine to1,01,000 copies (one lakh one thousand copies a month) (0.1 million), i.e. one copy to each self help group of women with the financial assistance of UNICEF and subscription from SHGs. The content and layout also was improved drastically. I was the Editor of the magazine for about one year.
Training Programmes & Manuals: I have organized and implemented a large number of training of trainers of SHGs during my tenure as ED. During the period I initiated the publication of a large number of training manuals for SHGs.
Conceived and launched the first all women courier service in the country – “Dinathorum Couriers” as an economic livelihood activity for SHGs in Sivaganga districtwhile serving as the District Collector, Sivaganga.
18. / Magazines edited: / Formerly editor of magazine for self help groups called ‘mutram’ – one lakh one thousand copies a month.
Currently editor of IAS association magazine.
Formerly editor of labour magazine‘ Uzhaippor Ulagam’
Formerly editor of magazine on child labour “Kuruthu”
Currently editor of eGovernance Newsletter ECZITE.
Served as-
1.Sub Collector, Chidambaram.
2.Additional Collector, Tiruvallur DRDA.
3.Special Officer, Chief Minister’s Special Cell.
4.Executive Director, Tamil Nadu Corpn. for Development of Women Ltd.
5.District Collector, Sivaganga.
6.Additional Commissioner of Labour (Child Labour).
7.Joint Secretary to Government, Dept. of Rural Development.
8.District Collector, Krishnagiri.
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