38 Facts About Moosa Raza

Moosa Raza has been awarded the Padma Bhushan for the year 2010.

Moosa Raza joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1960 and rose to be the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Moosa Raza then served as Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, Advisor to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and, in Delhi, as Secretary to the Government of India in the Cabinet Secretariat and in the Ministry of Steel.

Moosa Raza was born on 27 February 1937 in Minambur, a small village located between Gingee and Villupuram in the Villupuram District in the State of Tamil Nadu, India to Ghulam Ali Mehkari and Aasiya Begum.

Moosa Raza studied in a local school called Madrasa-e-Azam and went on to complete his intermediate from the then Government Arts College in 1955.

Moosa Raza graduated from the Madras Presidency College, University of Madras with Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature, in 1958, getting a First Class First.

Moosa Raza is the only triple gold medal winner from the University, a feat reported by unsurpassed till now.

Moosa Raza went on to earn a master's degree from the same university.

Moosa Raza appeared for the selection exams in 1959 and was selected for the Indian Administrative Service for Gujarat in 1960, in the very first attempt.

Moosa Raza was picked up by the then Finance Minister of India, Morarji Desai, to head his home District of Bulsar for 4 years.

Moosa Raza was given charge of the flood relief operations in 1968 as the Municipal Commissioner when the city and the District of Surat was submerged due to heavy floods in the Tapti river.

Moosa Raza was able to bring relief to over 12000 villages across Gujarat by way of providing government employment to over 1.5 million villagers, water to over 7500 villages and cattle feed to save the lives of over 3 million milch cattle, the livelihood of the rural communities in Gujarat.

Moosa Raza was the youngest Indian Administrative Officer to head the National Textiles Corporation, which then managed over 110 nationalised textile mills with an employment of over 200,000 workers.

Moosa Raza served as chairman and managing director of India Trade Promotion Organization, a government body engaged in the promotion of India's domestic and international trade.

Moosa Raza functioned as a director on several PSUs, including Cotton Corporation of India, Gujarat Fisheries Corporation, Marine Products Export Development Authority, Gujarat Narmada Fertilizer Company, etc.

Moosa Raza formulated numerous proposals and policies to liberalise the steel industry of India and set it on the path of expansion and modernisation.

Moosa Raza retired from government service in 1995 after 35 years of service as Secretary to the Government of India having served in that position in both the Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of Steel.

Since retirement from active Government service, Moosa Raza has served on several Committees of State and Central Governments, the private sector as well as charity and non-profit organisations.

Moosa Raza has been a member of the National Integration Council of India headed by the Prime Minister of India for several years.

Moosa Raza has been recently nominated as an ATF member in the Performance Management Division of the Cabinet Secretariat set up by the Prime Minister of India for evaluating performance of Government Departments and Ministries.

Moosa Raza was nominated as the President's nominee on the Senior Selection Committee of Indira Gandhi Open University, and since 2009 has been on the Court of Aligarh Muslim University.

In view of his long experience with industrial and commercial enterprises, Moosa Raza was elected and served as chairman of the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, an apex body of over 240 public sector undertakings in India.

Moosa Raza functioned during this period on the governing councils of the Indian Institute of Management, the Advanced Management Programme Committee, the Management and Administrative Research Council of India, International Management Institute, New Delhi, and the various expert committees to study public sector reforms and government functioning.

Moosa Raza is the Founder Trustee of the India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi, and as its director general he helped set it up as an institution for establishing communal harmony and build understanding between various communities of India.

Moosa Raza is a Member of Sarvodayan international, Tamil Nadu Chapter, Chennai and a Member of the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language.

Mr Moosa Raza was conferred the prestigious award of Padma Bhushan in the Republic Day Honours in 2010.

Moosa Raza's book was very favourably reviewed by the noted author, Khushwant Singh in newspapers and magazines.

Moosa Raza's book In Search of Oneness published in 2012 is a free flowing narrative about the author's journey in search of a personal God and faith.

Moosa Raza has published a collection of his Urdu poems under the title "Khwab-e-Natamaam".

Moosa Raza published his memoirs titled Of Giants and Windmills in the year 2022 which traces his journey from a remote village in South India to his present role as chairman of the South Indian Educational Trust.

Moosa Raza is married to Husnara and has one son and three daughters.

Apart from his hands on experience in managing large enterprises, Moosa Raza has been intimately concerned with theories of management and governance, study of comparative religion, Islamic and Indian history, philosophy and law and has written several articles on these subjects.

Moosa Raza has delivered lectures in Chicago, at the Nehru Centre in London and in Dubai, Heidelberg, Germany besides other centres in Inda.

Moosa Raza owns a personal library of over 10,000 books, over 7,000 of which are on Islam.

Moosa Raza has delivered lectures on Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, Christianity, Buddhism and Sufism.

Moosa Raza has travelled widely both within the country and outside.

Moosa Raza has led several delegations abroad on behalf of the Government, both diplomatic and commercial, and goes out on speaking assignments on management, country analysis, human resources development, corporate restructuring, project management and related fields.

Moosa Raza is deeply involved in many educational activities, especially for the deprived sections of society and minorities.