Sampath Kumar
Principal Secretary to Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Meghalaya (India)
Sampath Kumar is presently the Principal Secretary to Health & Family Welfare Department at Government of Meghalaya. He is also serving as the Principal Secretary to the Programme Implementation & Evaluation Department, the Social Welfare Department and the Community & Rural Development Departments at the Government of Meghalaya. Previously, he worked for the World Bank assisted Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project and also as the CEO of RGMVP, a non-profit mission working for women’s empowerment and poverty reduction in the State of Uttar Pradesh. He was instrumental in bringing the first and only Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act in Meghalaya to address demand-side issues of public service delivery.
In Meghalaya, Sampath Kumar launched State Capability Enhancement Project (SCEP) as a means of strengthening state capacity, while successively tackling complex development challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying principles of the SCEP, Meghalaya’s response has involved cross-department collaboration, alliance between government and civil society,and the mass mobilization ofa community-level response across the state. The state has also used the heightened focus on health to not only tackle the pandemic but other key health issues, such as maternal and child mortality. Over 2020, Meghalaya has maintained one of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in India, and has improved significantly in other key areas of healthcare, such as child immunization rates. He is also a member of the Lancet Covid-19 India Taskforce.
He holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and BE in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Osmania University.