C. V. Ananda Bose is an Indian politician and retired 1977-batch IAS officer, currently serving as the Governor of West Bengal since 23 November 2022.
Overview
Ananda Bose is serving as the Governor of West Bengal. He has held the rank of Secretary to Govt. of India, Chief Secretary, and University Vice-Chancellor. He is the Chairman of the Habitat Alliance, in consultative status with UN and was member of the UN Habitat Governing Council.
Bose has published 32 books in English, Malayalam and Hindi including novels, short stories, poems and essays.
On 17 November 2022, Bose was appointed as Governor of West Bengal by President Droupadi Murmu.
Education and career
Bose had his education at Kuriakose Elias College, Mannanam, and at St. Berchmans College, Changanassery. He also holds a Ph.D from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. Having joined IAS in 1977, Bose had the opportunity to introduce innovations in good governance which could ensure speedy and effective delivery of public services to the people.
Bose is a Fellow of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, and has received the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship.
He worked as District Collector, and Principal Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary in various ministries such as Education, Forest and Environment, Labour, and General Administration.
Bose has founded several movements and institutions in the field of affordable housing, good governance, science and technology, agriculture, rural development and education, such as Nirmithi Kendra (Building Centre), District Tourism Council and Habitat Alliance. He has represented India in the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva and the International Fusion Energy Organisation, ITER, France. He was Chairman of the Atomic Energy Education Society. United Nations have selected his initiatives as 'Global Best Practice' four times. Government of India awarded him the National (Special) Habitat award. He was the Head of the Supreme Court Committee on the treasures of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.
The Nirmithi Kendra (Building Centre) founded by him as District Collector of Kollam in 1985 to provide cost effective and environment friendly houses to the people, has emerged into a national network and become part of the national housing policy. This unique initiative in affordable housing is seen as a trigger for the Prime Minister's decision to provide affordable houses for all by 2022. Bose had the opportunity to meet and submit the proposal to Narendra Modi on 4 March 2014.
The District Tourism Promotion Council started by Bose in 1986 and replicated by the Government of Kerala in all the districts in the state, has been the nodal institution behind making Kerala God's own country. The national tourism policy recommends that this institution be replicated in all districts in the country.
Dhanwanthari Kendras initiated by Bose as institutions which provide ancillary medical facilities in hospitals, have been replicated in all districts in Kerala. The first ever attempt in India to provide medicines at discounted rate was started as part of Dhanwanthari Kendra. Later on Kerala government set up institutions to provide medicines at fair price on a regular basis. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana Kendra may be seen as a great culmination of a humble initiative in that direction taken 32 years back by Bose.
'The File to Field' program successfully launched in various places in Kerala as an effective mass contact program, has proved to be an administrative innovation which could redress the grievance of the public and accelerate development of backward rural areas. Union Minister of Tourism, Alapon Bandhapadhaya, is on record that this is the precursor to UN award-winning public service delivery system spearheaded by the then Chief Minister of Kerala .
The Gramotsava program initiated by Bose as sub collector, for the time bound development of rural areas, was officially evaluated by the Kerala Government as an effective development model worthy of replication and Government repeated the program in 200 panchayaths.
Sanjeevani Kendra, setup on the banks of the Ramsar site, Sasthamcotta Lake, with an extensive medicinal garden with facilities for Ayurveda treatment and research, was replicated in other parts of the state and Forest department adopted it as one of their flag ship projects.