Mahi Pal former officer, Indian Economic Service

Dr Mahi Pal is a former officer of Indian Economic Service. During his service, he worked in various ministries and institutions in different capacities. He retired from the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) where he was engaged in policy and planning matters relating to rural development. Before joining MoRD, he was with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and studied state of panchayats across the states and Union Territories. He also worked in the then Planning Commission, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. In between, for five years, he was on deputation as a faculty in the Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Nilokheri, Karnal, where he was involved in developing reading materials for trainees and imparting training about various issues relating to rural governance, Panchayati Raj and rural development to officials and nonofficials working in rural areas. He was also engaged in research relating to panchayats and rural development programmes. There, he observed very closely rural society and economy which has subsequently helped him in giving relevant policy inputs in formulating programmes and schemes for rural development in the ministries. He was also post-doctoral fellow during 1992–1994 at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, where he specialized in the field of decentralized planning and Panchayati Raj. He was also visiting faculty in the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi. After retirement, Dr Mahi Pal had worked as Rural Development Expert in the Projects on Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission in the SPA, New Delhi. He has also been associated with various civil society organizations and academic bodies. He has also visited several counties.

Dr Mahi Pal has published several outstanding research papers in the areas of decentralized governance and rural development in various journals including Economic & Political Weekly. He has also authored a number of books both in Hindi and English languages. Some of his books have also been published by National Book Trust and Publications Division, Government of India. He has also participated and contributed papers in various national and international conferences/seminars. He has been regularly contributing articles in national dailies and magazines on relevant issues of rural local governance and development.