Sh. Chanchal Kumar

Shri Chanchal Kumar is an academician, cultural administrator, and civil servant, presently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. He has served on the Academic Senate Committee of IIT Patna, delivered lectures at IIT Patna, the Chandragupta Institute of Public Administration, and IIM Bangalore, and was a member of the Governing Board of Nalanda University, an international university founded with the assistance of ASEAN countries.

As chief aide to the Chief Minister of Bihar, he contributed to the state maintaining a prudent fiscal reform path, during which the plan size grew from ₹4,000 crore to ₹1,00,000 crore over fourteen years, and quality assets were created in physical and social infrastructure. He is credited with reviving art and cultural activity in Bihar through the institutionalisation of the Lalit Kala Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi, and the launch of the Nalanda Literature Festival, the Patna Literature Festival, Bhartiya Kavita Samaroh, Sangeet Vihaan, and numerous artists' workshops and performances.

He was involved in the design and commencement of many signature buildings, including Science City, Patna; the Mithila Chitrakala Sansthan, Madhubani; the international cricket stadium and sports academy at Rajgir; the Buddha Samyak Darshan Museum in Vaishali; Bihar Sadan, New Delhi; the Mahabodhi Cultural Centre in Bodhgaya; the Development Management Institute, Bihta; the High Court building; and housing for legislators in Patna. He also led the team behind some of Patna's most architecturally distinguished buildings, including the Bihar Museum, Samrat Ashok Convention Kendra, the 5,000-capacity Bapu Auditorium, the iconic Sabhyata Dwar, the tallest statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi Maidan, and the Sardar Patel Bhawan.

His awards for contributions to governance include the National e-Governance Award, the South Asia Manthan Award, and a citation from the Bihar State Information Commission for the Jankaari facilitation centre established in Patna in 2007, widely considered significant work in breaking the monopoly of government offices and ushering in greater transparency under the Right to Information Act. He also won the national CIDC award for the design and timely construction of the Bihar Museum and Samrat Ashok Convention Kendra.