Born on 06^th May, 1962, Shri Pankaj Kumar did his B. Tech in Civil Engineering (Gold Medalist) from IIT Kanpur and Masters of Business Administration (Public Policy and Management) from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He was selected for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1986 and was allotted Gujarat Cadre. He has rich and varied experience gained from various assignments beginning with the District Administration and in various departments such as Home, Revenue, Health & Family Welfare, Administrative Reforms & Training, Information and Broadcasting, Disaster & Relief, Agriculture and in different capacities in the areas of Urban Development, Water Management, Infrastructure Development and Policy Formulation. He had also led State Public Sector Undertakings like Gujarat Maritime Board, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation and Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation. He was assigned the task to guide and supervise Health & Family Welfare Department for entire work relating to Covid-19 activities for the State of Gujarat. He was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Government of Gujarat w.e.f. 31.08.2021 and superannuated on 31.01.2023. While discharging his responsibilities as Chief Secretary, he was also Chairman of various State PSUs including Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, Gujarat State Petronet Limited and Gujarat Gas. He has been appointed as Hon'ble Member of Lokpal of India on 27^th March 2024.