New Delhi: Just four days ago, on May 24, Dhanendra Kumar shared a post on LinkedIn featuring his latest published article. It turned out to be his final piece of public writing. Even at 80 years old, the retired IAS officer never truly stepped away from public life. Instead of choosing a quiet retirement, he spent his final years actively engaging with the world, constantly writing columns as a regular columnist, analysing policy, and using the social media platform X to share inspirational posts and thoughts.Just three months prior, in Jan, he had also used X to share a personal post about the loss of his sister.According to his Linkedin profile, Kumar, a 1968-batch IAS officer, leaves behind an administrative legacy focused on economic policymaking and regulatory frameworks. From 2005 to 2009, he served as India’s executive director at the World Bank Board in Washington DC, representing India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan.Immediately following his tenure in Washington, Kumar was appointed the first chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), serving from 2009 to 2011. He played a crucial role in building the institution during its formative years, overseeing the framing of regulations, systems, procedures, staff recruitment and capacity building. Before his economic and regulatory tenures, Kumar held several other influential administrative positions during his nearly four-decade career. He also served as secretary to the Government of India across the ministries of road transport and highways, defence, and culture.
