A 1989 batch IAS officer, Rajesh Aggarwal’s career, spanning more than two decades, has been marked by a number of challenging and exciting assignments. However, out of all the roles, he picks his stint as director, Election Commission of India during 2003-07 in Delhi as the most memorable.

“Working on large databases (comprising 700 million voters and 500 million photographs) in more than a dozen Indian languages was a great learning experience,” says Aggarwal. “I, along with my team, developed several matching techniques to dedupe voter lists. We also executed the Photo Rolls project, which ensured that voters’ photographs are carried on the voter list.”

“Moreover, it is gratifying to have played a key role in convincing the Delimitation Commission to make new assembly and Parliament boundaries using geographic information system maps sourced from the Census of India.”

Aggarwal finds his current role as secretary, IT, Government of Maharashtra, full of opportunities. He is responsible for formulating information and communications technology (ICT) guidelines and policies for facilitating e-governance and creation of common state-owned ICT infrastructure including cloud and data centres. The key focus areas for him are ensuring that every government department in the state becomes IT savvy and uses ICT to increase internal efficiency and effectiveness, and improves the citizen interface.

Commenting on upcoming technology trends, he says that the industry is set to witness an exponential increase in data usage, a convergence between fixed line and mobile networks, the emergence of machine-to-machine services, and widespread adoption of software-defined networking.

Aggarwal describes his management style as collaborative and one that encourages individual accountability in a team. He values teamwork and open communication. “The idea is to allow team members to combine their strengths and collectively deliver better results. Such an approach positively influences employee morale and vendor relations, thereby leading to an enhanced user experience.”

In his spare time, Aggarwal likes to read on technology and spend time developing his mathematical skills. “My love for mathematics comes from my father being a lecturer on the subject,” he says. Besides his penchant for numbers, Aggarwal enjoys watching movies and listening to Sufi music. Travelling with his wife and children is another passion.