The Institution of Directors (IOD) recently presented the coveted “Distinguished Fellow” to senior IAS officer Mr. G Kamalavardhan Rao, the incumbent CEO of the FSSAI. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal presented the award to Officer Rao during a function held in New Delhi. Officer Rao was picked by a jury comprising former Supreme Court Chief Justice U U Lalit for the prestigious.
Mr. Rao is considered one of the three change makers of the All India Service (AIS) who received the award. He has been heading the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for the past few years. The jury took the services rendered by Kamalavardhan Rao as managing director of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and CEO of FSSAI to bring noticeable changes in the system for the betterment into account.
Mr. Rao, a 1990-batch Kerala cadre-IAS, is a native of Andhra Pradesh who brought farmer-friendly policies when he served as tobacco board chairman in the past. He had also served as Finance Secretary of the Kerala government before moving to Delhi as FSSAI CEO.
The IOD stated, “Distinguished Fellow shall, be for life, and be entitled to the normal privileges and obligations of membership of the Institute. He is entitled to use the initials DF.IOD, after his name.“