Ramesh K Pandey

Early life and education

Pandey was born in district Ballia of Uttar Pradesh state. He did his Masters in Plant Sciences and a post-graduate Diploma in Environmental Science in 1992 from V. B. S. Purvanchal University. After joining the IFS in 1996 he underwent Profession Course on forestry, natural resource management and biodiversity conservation and was awarded AIGNFA Honours Diploma by the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun.

In 2013 he was selected by Government of India for 'Executive Development: Leading Change' training programme at Centre for Leadership Development, WMDC, Denver, (USA), organised by United States Office of Personnel Management (USOPM). He was thereafter nominated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the first Professional Development Programme on 'Sustainable Energy Solutions' organised by UNIDO Training Institute and International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) at Ljubljana, Slovenia (2013). He attended Yale School of Forestry and Environment Science, Yale University, (USA) in 2014 for a course on Sustainably Forestry (2014). He was nominated by the Government of India for the Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) at Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi. and did his Masters Diploma in Public Administration (MDPA). Pandey did his M. Phil. from Punjab University, Chandigarh in 2016 in the area of high manufacturing and low carbon growth in MSMEs.

Awards and recognitions

Pandey was honoured by Governor of Uttar Pradesh with a Gold Medal for securing first position in the Master of Science course at Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University in 1993. The Vice President of India awarded him with ten awards and medals after achieving first position in IFS Profession Course including Government of India's Gold Medal for all round outstanding performance, Best all round forester award, Topper in Core Forestry award and prestigious P. Srinivas Memorial Medal in 1999. He is also the first recipients of Dr Barin Ganguli Award for academic excellence conferred to the best officer trainee in IFS professional course. He was awarded by the State Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2001 and 2002 for his remarkable works in the field of forest protection and operation green. He received coveted WWF-PATA Tiger Conservation Award-2001 for his outstanding contribution in tiger and wildlife conservation.

The works done by Pandey in combating tiger poaching and trans-boundary illegal trade by busting organised wildlife crime gangs with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other enforcement agencies not only controlled the tiger poaching in the country but also brought laurels to the organisation by winning Clark R. Bavin Enforcement Award 2010 which he received in Doha, Qatar during CITES CoP in 2010.

Conservation works and other contributions

Pandey has worked in the areas of conservation, protection and management of wildlife and natural resources in biodiversity rich landscapes (Pilibhit-Dudhwa-Katerniaghat), and is known for prevention of organised wildlife crimes in Northern India. Pandey's success in reviving and restoring the Katerniaghat and drawing attention to the tigers of Pilibhit was recognized in Rajya Sabha and led to calls for more attention to tiger conservation in India. He also worked extensively on Gharial conservation in river Girwa particularly in facilitating the natural breeding of gharials. His work in combating Wildlife Crimes was connected with enforcement agencies and implementation of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) in the country, including cross-border implementation efforts.

Besides this working in the field of natural resource management including working in a World Bank project in watershed management his efforts to manage wildlife in non-protected area of Pilibhit is one of the best of its kind, which later on build up a case for recognising the area to be declared as 45th Tiger Reserve of the country. He has been instrumental in bringing Katerniaghat and Chuka (Pilibhit) on the map of wildlife and eco-tourism in the country.

Works in MSME sector

In 2012 Pandey joined the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), of India as Joint Development Commissioner and worked in the areas of strategic planning and implementation of government policies and schemes at national level. During this period he contributed in the areas of strategic thinking and planning for public policy particularly relating to MSMEs. He has played vital role in formulation and implementation of flagship programmes of Ministry of MSME particularly in the field of productivity enhancement & competitiveness, energy efficiency & green growth, public procurement policy, UNIDO, GIZ and World Bank programmes including Technology Centres System Programme (TCSP).

ZED Certification

While working in Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr Pandey conceptualised, advocated and worked for 'Creating Productivity Enhancement Ecosystem of Growth and Competitiveness of MSMEs' which helped in designing Zero Defect-Zero Effect manufacturing and Zed Certification models in India. He worked closely with Quality Council of India (QCI), in formulating the ZED matrix and pilot project for the ZED certification. He also played key role and was instrumental in envisaging a ZED Certification scheme for the MSMEs by amalgamating two different schemes under the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme of the Ministry. The Scheme was formally launched by the Prime Minister of India during the National Awards for MSMEs ceremony at Ludhiana.