Her Road to Success

Alka Upadhyaya has been appointed as Chairperson, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), as part of a significant bureaucratic reshuffle by the Centre. A 1990-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Upadhyaya has had a long engagement with policymaking and implementation of various rural development programmes since 2012. At present, she is Additional Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, and is in charge of the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) at the national level. She is a pioneer in the construction of rural roads using plastic waste in Madhya Pradesh, which is now a national practice.