B. D. Pande Explained

Bhairab Dutt Pande (17 March 1917  - 2009)^[1] was a member of the Indian Civil Service and Union Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India under Indira Gandhi. He served as the Governor of West Bengal (1981–1983), and Punjab (1983–1984), and the Administrator of Chandigarh for a brief period.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Born in Almora, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Pande served as a Cabinet Secretary to the Union Government from 2 November 1972 to 31 March 1977.^[5] When President's rule was imposed on Punjab, he served as the governor of the state.^[6]

Pande was married to Vimla Pande. They had three children: Arvind Pande, IAS,^[7] environmentalist Lalit Pande, and Ratna Pande. His brother-in-laws were Vinod Chandra Pande, a former governor and Union Cabinet Secretary and Govind Chandra Pande a Padmi Shri and noted scholar and historian.^[8]

He was one of the last living members of the Imperial Civil Service, having entered in the 1939 batch.^[9]

The Government of India awarded Pande the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 1972, for his contributions to Indian society^[10] and the Padma Vibhushan in 2000.

He is author of his famous autobiography book released after 5 years of his demise as per his wish name “In the Service of Free India” Memoir of a civil servant, by B D Pande.^[11]

Notes and References

1. News: Singh . Jupinderjit . False narrative built before Operation Bluestar: Ex-Punjab governor BD Pande . 9 December 2022 . The Tribune . 23 September 2022.
2. http://chandigarh.gov.in/admn_old_admrs.htm Administrators
3. http://rulers.org/indstat4.html Governors 1947-
4. Web site: Pande takes top post for two years . https://web.archive.org/web/20021118091720/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020911/asp/nation/story_1187782.asp . dead . 18 November 2002 . Telegraph . 11 September 2002 . 22 December 2015.
5. Web site: Cabinet Secretariat - Cabinet Secretaries Since 1950 . Government of India . 2015 . 23 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100310080436/http://cabsec.nic.in/about_cabinet.php . 10 March 2010 . dead . dmy-all .
6. Web site: Daunting task before Punjab Governor B.D. Pande and his advisors . India Today . 17 July 2013 . 23 December 2015.
7. Web site: Stocks. .
8. Web site: Grace without measure . Indian Express . 1 November 2006 . 20 December 2015.
9. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34711/pages/6960 The London Gazette, 17 October 1939
10. Web site: Padma Awards . Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India . 2015 . 21 July 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf . 15 October 2015 .
11. Book: Pande, B. D. . In The Service of Free India : Memoir of A Civil Servant . 2021-01-01 . Speaking Tiger . 978-93-5447-152-0 . English.