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Navin Chawla

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Bureaucrat

The Resume

    (July 30, 1945- )
    Born in New Delhi, India
    Former Chief Election Commissioner of India (Apr. 2009–Jul. 2010)
    Famous for his 23-year long association with Mother Teresa
    Joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1969
    Later ascended to the rank of Special Secretary in the Ministry of Environment & Forests, and then Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs
    Appointed to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, in 2004
    Best known for his best-selling authorized biography, 'Mother Teresa (Missionaries of Charity),' published in 1992
    Received international acclaim for successfully conducting India's general elections, in 2009
    Chairman of The Darshan School for Hearing Impaired Children
    Trustee of the South Asia Foundation; Advisor to the Madanjeet Singh Foundation
    Semi-regular columnist for The Hindu, India Express, India Today, Outlook, New Indian Express, and The Tribune
    Authored the report, 'The Vocational Rehabilitation and Social Re-integration of the Leprosy Affected in India'
    Later penned 'Faith and Compassion – The Life and Work of Mother Teresa,' in 1996

Why he might be annoying:

    He claimed that Mother Teresa advised him not to resign from his civil service position in the late 1990s.
    The Shah Commission concluded in its final report that he was ‘unfit to hold any public office which demands an attitude of fair play and consideration for others.’
    Attempts were made by officials to stall his EC appointment by starting inquiries about the allotment of land to his trusts in Jaipur in 2000.
    Concerns surrounded his leanings, during his time as Election Commissioner, towards the Indian National Congress Party.
    He was accused of leaking confidential information about the election commission to Congress Party officials.
    Specifically, his impartiality was questioned in light of information that surfaced linking him to the Gandhi Family’s political machine (May 2006).
    The Rajya Sabha’s party’s opposition leader, Jaswant Singh, appealed to the Supreme Court of India for his removal as Commissioner due to his ties to the MPLADS controversy, although the petition was later withdrawn (31 January 2009).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was appointed a Fellow of Queen Elizabeth House at Oxford University (1996).
    Under his supervision, four of the five phases of the Indian general elections to Loksabha were executed in a peaceful and even-handed manner (Apr. - May 2009).
    He received praise from President Obama for his leadership.
    His bestselling Mother Teresa biography has been translated in 14 languages.
    The book also sold close to half a million (substantial royalties were donated to leprosy aid organizations).
    He was voted New Delhi TV (NDTV) Icon of the Year twice (2009 and 2013).
    He received the Bhartiya Vidhya Bhavan, Mumbai Award, in 2014.
    He received the 2005 Mazzini Award from the government of Italy 'in recognition of his efforts to forge a new relationship with Italy and strengthening existing bonds.'
    He was influential in reforming the century-old Lepers Act, citing it as 'highly discriminatory ... [which needs to be] replaced by a more humane law that takes into account that leprosy is now fully curable.'
    He implemented shelters which provided free medicines to leprosy patients, as well as free vocational training/education to healthy children of leprosy parents, the Lepra India Trust School in Delhi.
    He distributed 'Smart Canes' to visually impaired students of Delhi University, during the course of the Antardhwani festival (Feb. 16, 2015).
    He wrote: ‘As a Hindu, armed with only a certain eclecticism, it took me longer than most to understand that Mother Teresa was with Christ in every conscious hour, whether at Mass or with each of those on whom she tended.’


Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying