| Civil Service (1965 to 2000) | - Joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1965 as an officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre
- Early postings included Assistant Collector, District Revenue Officer, and roles in the Finance, Revenue, and Petroleum and Natural Gas departments
- Served in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, and the Ministry of Power
- Served as Officer on Special Duty to a Minister, with a rank equivalent to Joint Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat
- Held Secretary-level posts in Urban Development, Social Justice and Empowerment, Water Resources, Industry, Power, Expenditure, and Economic Affairs
- Served as Adviser to the Planning Commission (1989 to 1994 and 1996 to 1997)
- Served as Principal Adviser (Energy) in the Planning Commission of India, working on electricity supply, power generation, and energy economics
- In April 2000, visited Washington, D.C., to sign an agreement to form the India-United States Financial and Economic Forum
- Took voluntary retirement from the IAS in November 2000, ahead of his scheduled retirement in September 2001
- Was closely associated with setting up independent statutory regulatory bodies in the electricity, telecommunications and insurance sectors
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| Post-Retirement | - Appointed head of the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad
- Appointed member of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) for a three-year period from April 2005
- Became involved in public welfare activities, writing newspaper articles, giving media interviews, and issuing legal notices on public issues
- Has continued to articulate concerns on environmental protection, electoral reforms and the livelihoods of low-income and tribal groups
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| Notable Activities | - 2007: Filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India, with Nandini Sundar and Ramachandra Guha, on violence against people in the Dantewada areas of Chhattisgarh, linked to the Salwa Judum case
- Questioned the Vedanta mining controversy in the Niyamgiri Hills of Odisha over its impact on the environment and way of life
- November 2016: Wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioning the demonetisation decision; the letter was published by Scroll
- October 2023: Wrote, with M. G. Devasahayam, to the Election Commission of India about deploying senior civil servants as district-level officials for the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra
- March 2025: Wrote to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asking him to reconsider a 2,800-megawatt nuclear power plant in Anakapalle
- 10 March 2026: Delivered a lecture on 'Governance, Law and Public Interest' at National Law University Odisha
- April 2026: Wrote to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change about an environmental clearance granted to Vizag Mega Data Center Park Limited in Tarluvada
- 9 August 2026: Wrote to the Union Environment Minister asking him to halt further work on data centre projects, citing environmental concerns
- October 2026: Requested the President of India to reconsider the proposed sale of the government's stake in IDBI Bank
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| Writing | - Has written many books on energy policies, government spending, environmental protection, public administration, economic issues, and democratic institutions
- Views are regularly published in newspapers, news websites, and policy publications
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