Rajesh serves as Executive Director at the World Bank Group representing Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka since November 1, 2020. He also chairs the Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) which supports the Boards in assessing the development effectiveness of the World Bank Group, providing guidance on strategic directions of each member institution, monitoring the quality and results of the World Bank Group operations, and overseeing the work of the entities that are part of the World Bank Group’s accountability framework. He is also a member of the GEF council, the governing body of the Global Environment Facility where he represents Nepal and Maldives in addition to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka.
Rajesh brings to the World Bank Group 32 years of rich governance experience as a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). His principal areas of experience are infrastructure financing, foreign investment and bilateral economic diplomacy, and overseas development assistance (ODA) at the federal level; poverty alleviation, agricultural development, school education and digital transformation of government at the state level and running of water, transport, waste management and other citizen services in two million plus cities, Gurugram and Faridabad in North India.
While working as Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India during 2011-15, Rajesh helped formulate the Public Private Partnership Policy, the structure of Infrastructure Debt Funds and the Land Monetization Policy for all public sector entities. He also negotiated five bilateral investment treaties and fresh ODA commitments of over $6 billion from Japan, Germany and France. He led annual financial cooperation dialogues with the Treasuries of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway and UK.
Rajesh specializes in strategic communication. For over two decades he has inspired state government officials to successfully deliver ambitious programs in school education, agriculture and urban administration. Designing apt incentives and disincentives for individuals in a bid to solve a collective action problem is his forte.
Rajesh holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Graduate Institute of Public Policy, Tokyo and an M. Sc. in Physics from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He is the author of Viral Match, a medical thriller around HIV.