Tejendra Khanna is the present Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. He has also chaired significant positions in the Government of India, as Chief Controller, Imports and Exports and Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Food. Tejendra Khanna has received the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Political Science, from the Wonkwang University of Korea. He also held different administrative positions in Punjab. During 1991-92, he was the Chief Secretary of Punjab.
Tejendra Khanna took over as the 19th Lt.Governor, Government of NCT of Delhi on April 9th 2007. He has been monitoring matters associated with Delhi`s urban planning and development, and public order and security in the National Capital. These also included the preparations for the XIX Commonwealth Games, which were successfully staged in the National Capital in October, 2010.
Early Life of Tejendra Khanna
Khanna was born on 16th December, 1938 in Bihar. Shri Tejendra Khanna did his M.Sc. (Physics) from Patna University and M.A. in Public Administration from University of California, Berkeley, U.S. After that on June 1st, 1961, he joined Indian Administrative Service.
Political Career of Tejendra Khanna
Tejendra Khanna joined his service on June 1st, 1961. He held different administrative positions in Punjab. He was the Chief Secretary, Punjab during 1991-92. Tejendra Khanna conducted the elections in February 1992, as the Chief Election Officer, which resumed the trend of Elected Government in the state after a long hiatus of President`s Rule. He also held important positions in the Government of India. He served as Commercial Counsellor, Indian High Commission, U.K. (1975-77), Chief Controller, Imports and Exports (1989-91), Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Food (1992-93) and Commerce Secretary to Government of India
In the year 1996, Khanna took retirement from IAS as the Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Commerce. From January 4th, 1997 to April 19th, 1998, Tejendra Khanna served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor, Government of NCT of Delhi. He undertook Consultancy for 3 U.N. agencies, after demitting the Lieutenant Governor`s Office. These U.N. agencies are UNCTAD, UNDP and ESCAP.
Since 1999, Khanna also served as a member of the Indo-German Consultative Group set up by the 2 Governments. This group was constituted to promote Indo-German co-operation under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of both the countries. Khanna chaired the Board of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. between 1999 and 2007, and also worked as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Standard Chartered Bank, U.K from January 1999 up to December 2003. Shri Khanna chaired the Tejendra Khanna Committee appointed by Govt. of India to go into problems of land use violations, etc. and propose solutions, during February-May, 2006
Tejendra Khanna has also been consociated with more than a few organisations, who work in the field of Social Welfare, like Help Age India and is also a Trustee Member of the Population First, focusing, on welfare of the Girl Child. Tejendra Khanna is a Life Member of Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan and since 1978; he has also been the member of the Indian Institute of Public Administration. Khanna also served as Chancellor of Ambedkar University of Delhi and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.
Honours of Tejendra Khanna
Tejendra Khanna was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Political Science, by the Wonkwang University, Republic of Korea in the year 2010. Khanna also received a Doctorate Degree (Honoris Causa) by TERI University, New Delhi on 28th October 2010 for his services in the field of Public Governance and advancement of social welfare.