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Saubhagya - Bringing Shine to Rural India
A 1986 batch officer of the Indian Forest Service, Gujarat cadre, Dr. Verma has a long and interesting professional journey in the fields of participatory management of natural resources, energy security & power reforms, integrated management of coastal ecosystem and the developmental administration of Scheduled Areas
Dr. Verma has the credit of leading one of the largest rural electrification initiatives of the world, which has been recognised as one of the greatest success stories by the International Energy Agency(IEA). He spearheaded the village electrification works in the country under Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY). Saubhagya, a flagship scheme for ensuring 100% household electrification both in urban as well as rural areas is also a brainchild of Dr. Verma. His rich experience at the grass root level and synchronising skills faciliated time bound implementation of country's rural electrification programme.
Management of problem-ridden forest area, writing new generation plan, formulating largest forestry project, innovative concept of urban environment amelioration, largest ever mangrove plantation, coastal zone planning, Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana for development of Scheduled Tribes, rural infrastructure development, administering DDUGJY, IPDS & Saubhagya, leading UDAY and governance of power sector financial institutions are his forte. He is an expert in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).
Dr. Verma's association with Indian Power Sector began with his engagement as Managing Director of Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL), a state distribution company with more than 10 Million connected consumers and ~15 BU in power sales.
At UGVCL, he was responsible for overall financial and operational performance of the Utility. He managed and streamlined core functions such as Load Forecasting, Power Procurement and Consumer Facilitation. He introduced Quarterly Accounting System in Discom. His initiatives to reduce cost of supply through better inventory management and UI supervision led to an annual saving of more than INR 3000 million. He spearheaded the strengthening of IT infrastructure and the consumer facilitation avenues such as online payment, time bound response to complaints, same day connection in urban pockets etc., which ultimately led to Utility's performance comparable to the best of the sector. AT&C losses of UGVCL came down to 6.63%.
As a testimony to his performance, Ministry of Power, Government of India awarded Gold shield to UGVCL for the Performance during the year 2010-11.
During his stay of about 5 years at Ministry of Power, Government of India as Joint Secretary, he has contributed to the key reforms for the development of Indian Power Sector. All the remaining villages and households in the country have electricity connection. He steered the most comprehensive power sector reform for financial turnaround of Discoms under UDAY.
He led the charge for village electrification under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and universal household electrification in the country. SAUBHAGYA, a Central Government Scheme for household electrification, he nurtured from its conception till completion. Both schemes of rural electrification are of unprecedented scale and pace, and they were managed by him through robust coordination with state and innovative interventions across all levels of governance. He accelerated the program delivery in the Indian federal structure through his innovative and transparent approach.
He has been harbinger of robust preparation towards 24X7 Power for All through flagship schemes- DDUGJY and IPDS (Integrated Power Development Scheme) for an improved distribution infrastructure in both urban and rural areas. This inter-alia included effective facilitation and monitoring of program implementation, disbursement & prioritization of funds (~INR 1500 billion) to assure commensurate social and economic return on investment along with vast scale and expanse of capital works undertaken. He conceptualised the integrated approach to planning in distribution sector, which led to the first ever 'Distribution Plan' of the country with an aim of integrated, demand led planning of capital expenditure.
Though for very short period he looked after Hydropower as joint Secretary, he fast-tracked hydroelectric projects through effective contract management, expediting pre investment, investment and other policy aspects including R&R settlement.
As a result of various policy and operational level efforts made for improvement of the sector, ease of doing business (getting electricity) ranking for the nation improved from 99 to 24 during his tenure.
He led the design and implementation of UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana), which aimed to guide ailing state Discoms through their financial and operational turn-around. UDAY led to a novel approach of designing interventions across the power sector value chain, which helped Discom streamline their cost structure. Inter alia other important measures and activities undertaken, it included:
Dr. Verma had been on the Board of Directors of three financial institutions of Power sector, namely PFC, REC and PTC. All the three organizations benefitted with his guidance and continuously added more value to the shareholders' equity as well as grew to meet power sector needs effectively. Through his diligence on financial repercussions, including those about applicability of prudential norms and market impact assessment, he led and operationalized one of the largest amalgamations of two large public sector NBFCs-PFC and REC in a short span of 4 months.
He has been forerunner for enhancing transparency in the power sector which led to an unprecedented level of stakeholder involvement through information dissemination in the public domain. Several portals and apps catering to various pain areas of distribution such as supply availability and transparency in transactions were initiated. Notable examples are Urja Mitra, PRAAPTI, GARV and Subhagya portal etc.
He emphasized IT enablement of distribution infrastructure with an aim of better energy accounting and overall Discom operations. All rural and urban feeders were being brought online. Better coordination with states was affected through robust communication, feedback, and monitoring. This resulted in effective and better availability and distribution of electricity in the country, though electricity is in the concurrent list of the subjects under Indian Constitution and are largely handled by States and UTs. He enabled robust coordination between center and states.
His policy interventions and operational level efforts along with implementation of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) in the urban areas helped 'Ease of doing business (getting electricity) Index' of India to improve from 99 to 24 during his tenure.
He spearheaded National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) and brought all the pilot projects to some conclusion. Through his constant persuasion IS specification of Smart Metres and communication were finalized and installation of smart meters at large scale started in the country. Special provision for smart meters under IPDS was made. Low cost smart meter designing, infrastructure for large scale use of smart meter and innovative financing for them were contrived in the system under his guidance.
Dr. Verma has been in forefront in bringing global experiences and best practices to power sector. At the same time, he championed the Indian experiences and shared it with larger global community. He has been driving PSR programme in collaboration with DFID under India-UK Cooperation to monitor power reforms, reduce cost of power, streamline energy market mechanism. He guided advancement of PACE-D to SPARC programme under India-US Energy Cooperation with USAID. He has been country representative for International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) and reactivated Indian leadership among ISGAN community and also guided two important streams of Access of Electricity and Smart Grid under Mission Innovation (MI).
Dr. Verma's journey in Natural Resource Management began with his initial postings in Gujarat's forest divisions of Vyara, Kutch, Baria and Rajpipla. The forest divisions of Vyara, Rajpipla and Baria were beset with problems of large-scale tree cutting, smuggling and people conflicts etc. Though challenging, this tenure developed in him, a strong empathy for the people living in the area and defined a fine balance between forest protection and sustainable development. While ensuring environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance of these areas, he undertook major initiatives in areas of Participatory Management of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development, Public Welfare, Poverty Alleviation, Education, Health, Rural Infrastructure and Public-Private-Partnership in Natural Resource Management.
He has been the architect of several government schemes. He revised and piloted the appraisal and implementation of the largest ever forestry project of the country (1996), Integrated Forestry Development Project (IFDP) of Gujarat financed by JBIC of Japan, during his appointment as forest economist on the post designated as DCF(CFP). He contributed to the formulation of Gujarat's Forest Development Project (GFDP). He also prepared the Forest Protection Plan of Rajpipla (East) Forest Division and the Management Plan of Vyara Forests.He conceptualized and implemented Urban Ecosystem & Forestry Development Project of Ahmedabad.
He was Member Secretary of Gujarat Ecology Commission and steered the implementation of Ecosystem-based Restoration Programme with peoples' participation for various types of Ecosystems of Gujarat. He guided the preparation of 9-volume magnum opus State of Environment Report of Gujarat covering aspects such as land, air, water, forest and coastal ecology, urban environment, Rann, & solid waste etc. He acted as torch bearer for Public-Private Partnership in the social forestry areas.
Dr. Verma has done his Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management from IIM, Bangalore and developed expertise on multilateral environmental agreements and their negotiation mechanism. His thesis Indian Environmental Diplomacy: Focus & Framework used to be reference literature on the subject. He worked on the transboundary conflict resolution of natural resources considering Mekong River Negotiation at Maxwell school of Citizenship & International Affairs, Syracuse University USA.
He served for more than six continuous years as Member of the Consultative Committee advising Government of India on matters pertaining to Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and United Nation Convention for Combating Desertification (UNCCD).
He served as Commissioner, Tribal Development for the State of Gujarat, and was looking after the developmental governance of 7.5 Million tribal population of the state. Apart from the supervision of overall activities of 354 schemes in 49 departments, his activities included initiatives for sustainable development, rural infrastructure development and human development projects in the crucial areas of health, education, income generation, employment and improvement of quality of life.
He strategized and implemented largest ever development initiative for Scheduled Tribes in the country -'Vanbandhu Yojana' of Gujarat Government, which involved managing projects worth INR 150 Billion under Chief Minister's 10-Point Programme. The programme-design was based on people's aspirations to meet the felt needs with an objective to transform the lives of Gujarat's tribal population.
He conceptualised and implemented many innovative projects such as Kanad, Dudh Sanjivari Yojana, Kavach and initiated holistic village development action planning of all villages of Scheduled Areas of Gujarat.
Dr. Verma also served as Project Director of the World Bank-aided Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP) in Gujarat. Gujarat has a coastline of about 1650 km and harbours two of the three gulfs of the country.
He has rich experience of Sustainable Management of Coastal Zones and Marine Resources. He introduced community participation in coastal resource management and implemented multiple schemes for socio-economic development of population living near to the coastal zone. He developed strategies to save threatened species and coastal ecosystem including the largest ever Mangrove Plantation of 16000 Ha. with community participation.
He was instrumental in devising and implementing anti-pollution measures for the ecologically sensitive coastal zone of the state of Gujarat. Controlling pollution in the hinterland to improve water quality of Gulf of Kutch he supervised establishment of Sewage Treatment Plants Jamnagar city.
As Project Director ICZMP, he supervised works of implementing agencies and led GEC collaboration with Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation (GEER), Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space application & Geo-Informatics (BISAG) to develop state's capacity to control sea water pollution as well as monitor water quality. They developed a sound and robust Decision Support System (DSS) for scientific planning to resolve conflict between environmental conservation and growth needs of coastal areas in Gujarat. He collaborated with University of Maryland, USA to develop Health Card Report of Gulf of Kutch.
Dr. Verma is an avid learner. He has M.Sc. in Physics as well as in Forestry. He has also done a Postgraduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM) from IIM Bangalore, and has a Ph.D. in Sociology (Tribal Development Policy). Drawing on his rich experience and research Dr. Verma has written over two dozen papers. Some of his key research contributions are:
Dr. Verma has guided many useful applied research works which were converted into publications by the Government agencies. These include:
Social Responsibility
Dr. Verma strongly believes in paying back to society. He shares a great bonding with rural India and has continuously endeavored to uplift the living standard of people. With decades of experience in rural development and participatory management, he suggested innovative initiatives in agriculture development, community participation, engagement of panchayats and convergence with district administration for robust planning and implementation of the projects.
Aadarsh Panchayat Bhandari Project
The project for development of panchayat Bhandari has number of interventions such as enhancing income of farmers, promoting livelihood for villages, building community leadership, making villagers aware about their rights and entitlements, encouraging communities for better sanitation and hygiene, developing infrastructure in the village, renovating schools to provide better learning environment to fulfill the objectives of a model village. Accordingly, a three-pronged approach has been developed by Dr. Verma in collaboration with various stakeholders for impact-oriented interventions:
The above-mentioned approach has been built with respect to indicators such as agricultural productivity, existing practices of agriculture, livelihood options, status of sanitation and functioning of government programs.
From the outset, it has been realized that objectives of holistic development of village cannot be fulfilled without convergence of Government schemes and active cooperation with district administration, CSR and development agencies. Hence, support has been asked from district administration for facilitating in providing access to government programs to villages , Khadi Village Industries Commission has been approached for providing training on bee keeping and pottery making, Power Finance Corporation Ltd., Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd, PTC Foundation Trust and S M Sehgal Foundation have been roped in to fund and/or support development projects in the village. Dr. Verma has the vision of bringing all these stakeholders together right in the beginning, as a result all these agencies are working together for making the Gram Panchayat Bhandari into model panchayat. It serves as model of synergistic & collaborative working for pooling resources and skill set for the faster and sustainable development of villages.
Gram Vikas Yojana Abhiyan
Dr. Verma has been outreaching people in villages under the Belsand block of Sitamarhi aspirational district in Bihar under the Gram Vikas Yojana Abhiyan. This program focuses on making available benefits of Government schemes to the deserving beneficiaries by spreading awareness and tackling ground-level challenges mostly due to lack of effective communication between beneficiaries and implementing agencies.
The key activities under these programs include:
Sushma Kumari Scholarship
Dr. Verma along with his brother and sister instituted Sushma Kumari Scholarship in the fond memory of their sister late Smt. Sushma Kumari as a tribute to cherish her love and vision for an educated and humane society. This scholarship is awarded every year to two good students – one from Class IX and other from Class X and carries a grant of Rs. 5000/- each. Students are selected from the Kamla Girls High School, Dumra by a duly constituted committee of five persons including Headmaster and senior teachers of the school. Click to view scholarship brochure