TCS ex-CEO Ramadorai appointed PM Advisor on skill development

Prakash Chawla

Davos, Jan 29 (PTI) S Ramadorai, former chief of IT giantfirm TCS, has been appointed as an Advisor to Prime Ministeron Skill Development, a move seen as part of the government''sefforts to rope in private sector professionals to assist onpolicy matters.

Ramadorai retired as CEO of the country''s largestsoftware firm TCS in late 2009 and is currently on board ofmany private sector firms, including some Tata groupcompanies.

As an advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ramadoraiwould enjoy the rank equivalent to a cabinet minister, a topgovernment official said here on the sidelines of the annualWorld Economic Forum summit.

Ramadorai holds a Bachelors degree in Physics from DelhiUniversity, a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics andTelecommunications from Indian Institute of Science, Bangaloreand a Masters degree in Computer Science from the Universityof California.

After Infosys former CEO Nandan Nilekani, Ramadorai isthe second high-profile professional from the IT sector tohave been brought on board by the government for assisting inpolicy matters.

Earlier in 2009, the government had appointed Nilekani,one of the founders and former chief of IT giant Infosys, asChairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI), in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister for aninitial tenure of five years.

Subsequently, the Prime Minister''s Council of UIDAIAuthority of India was set up on July 30, 2009, to advise onUIDAI Programme, methodology and implementation to ensureco-ordination between Ministries/Departments, stakeholders andpartners.

The Unique identification project was conceived as aninitiative that would provide identification for each residentacross the country and would be used primarily as the basisfor efficient delivery of welfare services.