An Interview with Mr. Prabodh Saxena

Chief Secretary, Government of Himachal Pradesh

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Mr. Prabodh Saxena is an IAS officer of 1990 Batch who has held multiple senior and important assignments in State Government, Central Government and Multilateral Institution. He took over as Chief Secretary to the Government of Himachal Pradesh on 31.12.2022.

Mr. Saxena holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Delhi University and a master’s degree in law from London School of Economics and Political Science. He has many publications to his credit, both in national and international journals. He also has regular speaking assignments in national and international institutions. Mr. Saxena has extensively travelled to more than 75 countries across all continents of the world.

In this conversation with Mr. Prabodh Saxena, The Policy Edge team discusses the unique policy challenges of Himachal due to terrain and climate, the high levels of human development in the state, and the policy priorities for its future.

You have had a long administrative journey - from Kangra and Bilaspur to the Asian Development Bank and now Chief Secretary. How has this shaped your perspective on Himachal’s challenges?

When I reported to Himachal in 1991, fresh out of training, I had never even set foot in the state before. That first district posting was my initiation into both the beauty and the fragility of mountain administration. Over 35 years, I have worked across scales – from districts to the state secretariat, from national policymaking in Delhi to development finance at the Asian Development Bank. Returning as Chief Secretary, I carry all those experiences into a single frame.

What I learnt early on is that mountain administration is less about routine file work and more about resilience. The challenges are sharper – fragile terrain, sudden weather shifts, limited resources, and scattered populations. In a place like Himachal, the state is often the first and last line of support for the citizens. That changes the way you think about governance.

For the first two decades of my service, rains were seasonal, predictable, and manageable. Flash floods or landslides did occur, but they were localised. The last five years, however, have been transformational. Rainfall is no longer gradual; it comes in short, intense bursts, carrying construction debris and triggering destruction. In this new environment, I cannot think of development and disaster management as separate silos – they are two sides of the same coin. This is the biggest change in my perspective: policymaking today must simultaneously enable growth and protect lives.

As you pointed out, Himachal has faced destructive rainfall and flash floods recently. How do you reconcile development with environmental sustainability? 

The first step is to accept that climate change is not a local aberration; it is a global phenomenon. A 1.5°C rise in global temperatures has destabilised both oceans and mountains, and Himachal is right at the front line. Some suggest simplistic solutions: stop construction, plant more trees. These have value, but they cannot by themselves deal with what is unfolding.

I often draw the parallel with states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Twenty years ago, each cyclone meant hundreds of deaths. Today, thanks to preparedness, casualties are minimal even though the cyclones themselves are more intense. The storms still come, but the states have adapted. Himachal must now build its own “cyclone model for the mountains.” This will require huge investment, coordination with scientific institutions, and integration of forests into disaster mitigation. Remember, 68 percent of our land is under forest cover, yet disaster protocols often fail to take forestry into account. A more holistic, ecosystem-wide approach is essential.

This is the balance we must strike. Development cannot and should not stop. But every road, every project, every hydropower plant must be planned with climate resilience in mind. That is the only sustainable path forward..

Himachal ranks consistently high on human development indicators. What explains this, and where do you see the next leap? 

When Himachal became a full-fledged state in 1971, it was one of the most backwards in India. In just two decades, it transformed into one of the most progressive. This is the result of deliberate choices. Every village was electrified within 17 years – often decades before roads reached them. I still remember visiting a village in Uttarakhand (then Uttar Pradesh) in 1991 as a probationer. We had dinner by candlelight, but when we stepped outside, the hills of Himachal Pradesh were glowing with electricity. That contrast told me something profound: even when physical access was difficult, the state prioritised energy access, and that decision changed the development trajectory.

Schools and health centres soon spread to even the remotest areas. For an entire generation, almost every educated household found employment in government service. It was not uncommon for both husband and wife to work in the public sector – teaching, nursing, administration. That created strong institutions and ensured services reached people. It is why, today, Himachal consistently ranks among the top three in NITI Aayog’s SDG Index despite its fragile terrain.

There is also a paradox about Himachal that outsiders often miss. In most parts of India, the higher you go, the poorer you are. In Himachal, the higher you go, the richer the communities are. Geography has been turned into opportunity: horticulture, off-season vegetables, dry fruits, and tourism have made remote tribal areas prosperous. That inversion of the poverty-geography relationship is perhaps Himachal’s most unique development lesson, and one worth studying globally.

But now the challenge is different. We have achieved quantity; the task ahead is quality. In education, that means consolidating schools with very low enrolment, focusing on learning outcomes, and making higher education globally competitive. Many of our brightest students still move out of the state, which means we need to raise the bar at home. In healthcare, too, we must move from basic access to excellence – specialised services, quality diagnostics, and research-linked institutions.

Looking ahead, what are the most urgent policy challenges for Himachal’s future?

If you measure success only in terms of GDP or kilometres of roads, you may think Himachal is doing fine. But I see three key challenges that will determine the state’s future.

The first is climate change, which we have discussed. Without a serious resilience strategy, all our past gains could be washed away in a single season of floods.

The second is the drug menace. This is not just a law-and-order issue. It is a social challenge that is affecting even single-child families. When you combine a low fertility rate with the vulnerability of youth to drugs, you are looking at a demographic and social crisis in the making

The third is demography and child health. Himachal’s fertility rate is now as low as Scandinavian countries. That in itself may not be a problem, but combined with unhealthy child-rearing practices, it is deeply worrying. Recent surveys show stunting and wasting at around 35 percent, not because of poverty, but because educated parents are feeding their children packaged juices and chips instead of breastfeeding. This is a failure of social awareness, not just nutrition.

These issues are not technical; they are behavioural. They demand a new style of governance – one that shapes social choices and not just physical infrastructure. In the next decade, Himachal will be judged not by how many new highways it builds, but by whether it has created resilient communities, curbed drugs, and raised healthier, better-educated children.

This is where the integrity of governance matters. For the first two decades after statehood, the political leadership, bureaucracy, and citizens worked with remarkable commitment to basic development goals like electrification and schooling. Standards were high, and outcomes showed. Today we have reached a plateau. To break through, we need to redefine success: from quantity to quality, from infrastructure to human capital, from growth to resilience.

That, to me, is the challenge, and the opportunity, for Himachal Pradesh in the decade ahead.

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Views are personal.