SS Meenakshisundaram is a Post Graduate in Mathematics from Loyola College, Madras and holds a Ph.D. in Development Economics from Jamia Milia Islamia National University, New Delhi. He joined the Karnataka cadre of the Indian Administrative Service in 1968. During his career he had held a number of assignments including Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department when Karnataka launched its new system of panchayatiraj institutions. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom for one year. Besides several articles and papers on Panchayatiraj and Rural Development, he has also published a book on "Decentralization in Developing Countries" with special reference to Nigeria , China and India during 1994. After working as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Karnataka and Joint Secretary to three Prime Ministers of India, he also served as Adviser in the Planning Commission and Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development. He was also the Dy. Chairman of the State Planning Board when Karnataka was under the President's Rule. Currently, he is the Chairman of MYRADA, a voluntary organization in the field of building people's institutions for development and a Visiting Professor at Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. His research interests include rural development, poverty alleviation, voluntary action and decentralized governance
