Satish Agnihotri did his Masters in Physics from the Institute in 1976 and subsequently obtained an M. Tech in Environmental Sciences in 1980. He continued his quest for knowledge by acquiring another Masters’ degree in Rural Development from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK in 1992 and subsequently obtained a Doctorate from the same university in 1997 for his thesis on “Sex ratio Imbalances in the Indian Population – a Disaggregated Analysis”.

He joined the Indian Civil services and served the Government of Orissa under several capacities such as Special Secretary, General Administration Department; Secretary of Women and Child Development Department; Director and CEO of OREDA (Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency); Vice – Chairman of Cuttack Urban Development Authority. At present he is deputed as a Consultant of Health and Nutrition, UNICEF, Calcutta.

With Dr. Agnihotri’s leadership, the Government of Orissa had launched a campaign in November 1998 to eliminate severe malnutrition among children and persuaded UNICEF to support the campaign in 6 Districts of the state. He has been felicitated by CINI, Calcutta, for contributions in the field of removal of malnutrition on their 26th Foundation day (Feb. 2000). His research in this field has broken new grounds in the analysis of ‘Masculinity of the Sex Ratios in India’. This work identifies areas and social groups among which the girl child is at risk. He has written for several publications in the area of ‘Gender Bias in Indian society’ and is regarded as the authority on ‘Sex Ratio Patterns in India’. His efforts had been lauded by leading social scientists including Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen, Vina Mazumdar and Barbara Harriss-White among others.

Dr. Agnihotri has been elected a Fellow, in Leadership in Environment And Development (LEAD), International Inc. N.Y. As the founder Chief Executive of OREDA, he has made important contribution to spread of Bio-gas in Orissa with the help of NGOs and succeeded in actualizing design improvements. Other remarkable developments under his leadership are the initiation of the use of mapping techniques in Policy Planning in Government in the aftermath of the super – cyclone.

In recognition of his incomparable contribution to the nation, Dr. Agnihotri has been selected by the Civil Services Newsletter (Sept. ’99) as the ‘Person of the Month’ , for overall achievements and has been awarded the ‘1st citation for Outstanding Work Related to Child Rights in 2001’, by the IACR (Indian Alliance for Child Rights), New Delhi.

Dr. Agnihotri’s book on satires “Mitti ke raston ka desh” has recently been released.