Varun Rattan Singh
Academic qualifications
Year Qualification
2005 – 2007 Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management, Anand. (Recipient of AMUL – TATA Scholarship)

Projects undertaken:

  • Dynamics of rural markets in village Dibh, Himachal Pradesh
  • Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Natural Resource Management in Palampur, HP
  • Strategic plan for income enhancement through endogenous tourism in Jyotisar, Haryana.
  • Developing a milk procurement forecasting model for Anand district milk shed.
1998 – 2002 BE Instrumentation Engineering, North Maharashtra University

(First class with distinction)
1996 – 1998 12th Science, CBSE
1995 – 1996 10th ICSE
Key skills
Soft skills Networking, Team building, Excellent communication skills, Creative ideation, Balance of both the right and the left brain.
Technical skills SPSS, Excel, HTML, Advance PowerPoint, Social media, Internet publishing and promotion, Business laws, Content management systems, Good at drafting and editing documents such as MoUs/agreements and project proposals.
Areas PPP, ICT4D, e-Governance, Rural Development, Monitoring & Evaluations, Start-ups. Social Entrepreneurship.
Work experience – 62 months (5 years 2 months)
August 2007 – till now State Anchor – Himachal Pradesh, Common Services Centres Project, IL&FS

  • Managing the techno commercial tendering process including steps such as:
    • Preparation of DPR, RFP/EoI,
    • Conducting the bidding process
    • Preparation and signing of service agreements.
  • Overseeing implementation and monitoring of a state wide project being implemented in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
  • Establishing linkages and enabling collaboration between multiple stakeholders including the government departments, implementation agencies, service providers and NGOs.
  • Field level monitoring of the project covering more than 3000 Panchayats.
  • Preparation of fortnightly, monthly and quarterly reports based on field visits and data collected from multiple agencies.
  • Advising the state government’s nodal agency and the implementation agencies on corrective actions to be taken for timely implementation of the project.
  • Assisting the state government in taking policy level decisions for introducing new e-Governance services in rural areas.
  • Preparation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for initiating e-Governance services in rural areas
  • Preparation of MoU and Service Level Agreements for initiating the new e-Governance services.
  • Sensitisation of government departments and grass root functionaries through workshops, seminars, mailers and field visits.
  • Implementation of grievance handling mechanism for more than 3000 field level functionaries.
April 2007 – August 2007 Manager Supply Chain – Community Friendly Movement

  • Work closely with the merchandising team to help bring efficiency to the existing handicrafts supply chain using ICT
  • Study and improve existing production process at the community level to decrease lead time and improve quality.
  • Help in order processing and delivery
  • Online marketing and merchandising
July 2003 – August 2004 Project Associate – Technology House – INRM Consultants (IIT Delhi incubated company) Delhi

  • Data collection and on ground research for developing GIS based applications.
  • Liaison with planning commission, government departments dealing in Natural Resource Management.
June 2002 – March 2003 Business Development Executive – Reliance Electronics, Nasik

  • Institutional sales of security equipments to Army and Police.
  • Supporting dealer network across the country
Volunteer and Entrepreneurial experience (9 years)
Mar 2001 – till now Voice of Himachal (VOH)

  • Initiated VOH.
  • Registered as a national level charitable society in July 2008.
  • Co-founded HimVani.com a citizen journalism initiative with a focus on developmental issues of Himachal.
  • 2000 + readers cum members worldwide.
  • A dedicated network of NGOs and opinion makers of Himachal.
  • Managing a team of 15 volunteers and content writers.
  • Have helped organise workshops on various issues such as entrepreneurship, disability and blood donation camps.
  • Provided assistance to Himachal Tourism department in revamping their website (himachaltourism.gov.in).
  • Assisted the IT department in preparation of a DPR for computerisation of temple trusts in Himachal.
  • Helped establish partnerships with organisations like Parliamentary Research and Services (PRS), ActionAid, Association for India’s Development (AID), Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP)
Sep2008 – Mar 2010 Development Logics

  • Co-founded the manpower consulting firm.
  • Trained manpower to tackle projects in content development of websites.
  • Was responsible for administration and HR functions of the firm.
  • Managed the legal and banking formalities of the partnership.
Jul 2000 – Mar 2004 Telecentre in Dharamshala

  • Established first cyber café in town
  • Internet facility to the citizens of this hill station.
  • Exam results and computer courses for students
  • Offered computer courses free of cost to senior citizens
Other information
Languages known Hindi, Pahari, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, English
Phone Number +91 98 05 51 01 11
Email varun { DOT } ratan { AT } gmail { DOT } com