Rahul Bhandari is an IAS Officer of Punjab Cadre 1997 batch.
He did his engineering in Electronics & Communication from Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Chandigarh and stood second in the batch.
Rahul Bhandari opted for humanities after completing engineering and did MA in Economics. Nurturing a childhood dream, Rahul prepared for India’s elite Civil Services Examination joined Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1997. Rahul Bhandari secured the third rank in the all India UPSC examination.
Rahul Bhandari held key position at various levels of Government from implementation and management of developmental activities at grass root level and at Policy Planning level.
Bhandari has worked in the districts of Ludhiana, Bathinda, Muktsar and Mohali. In addition, he has worked in the Department of School Education, Industries, Rural Development; and Welfare.
Rahul Bhandari has also worked in Government of India at various senior positions in departments including Science & Technology, Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources.
Rahul Bhandari also worked Punjab Urban Development Authority, Ludhiana and gained rich experience of managing Housing and Urban Development Sector,
He had a successful tenure in Excise & Taxation Department as Additional Commissioner (Taxation) when Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in the State in April 2005.
Bhandari has attended various training programmes both in India and abroad related to Smart governance, Fiscal issues, WTO and Foreign Trade, Environmental issues, Gender related issues and other social and economic sector concerns.
He is widely travelled both in India and abroad. He has also contributed research papers to LBSNAA Administrator on the issue of Field Ammunition Depots and other law & order matters.
He has successfully competed prestigious course of National Security Strategy from National Defence College, New Delhi.
The interests of Rahul Bhandari include travelling, music and contemporary social and economic matters.