Dr. Rajiv Sharma joined the Indian Administrative service in 1982 and had the unique distinction of being the first Chief Secretary of the newly formed state of Telangana in June 2014. After his super annuation he was appointed as the Chief Advisor to the Government of Telangana in December 2016. He did his Bachelor of Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (erstwhile University of Roorkee); Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Osmania University, Hyderabad, Master of Arts in Rural Development from University of East Anglia, U.K. and Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
As part of his professional career, Dr. Rajiv Sharma initially worked in the districts dealing with regulatory as well as development administration as Collector and District Magistrate in two districts and also as Commissioner of a Municipal Corporation with extensive work at local level in infrastructure development as well as social sectors including poverty alleviation, education, health and welfare etc. He also functioned in many senior positions in the state and central government in sectors such as agriculture, environment, technical education, municipal administration, urban development, Panchayat Raj and rural development. Dr. Sharma also held important positions at the centre such as the Mission Director of National Mission Clean Ganga and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
Dr. Rajiv Sharma's areas of interest include public policy, public finance, public infrastructure, urban and rural local bodies, urban development, agriculture & rural development, poverty alleviation, welfare, education and skill development, health, environment and sustainable development, ICT in development, and issues in good governance with specific focus on accountability and public service delivery.
