Hyderabad, November 11: So, who is Amirullah Khan, really? For Hyderabad, the question hardly needs an introduction. Those who have followed the city’s intellectual, academic and policy circles over the years would have encountered him in one capacity or another. His association with the Sudhir Commission, his work on research committees, his contributions as a policy adviser and his engagement with some of the country’s influential development institutions have made him a familiar presence in conversations that shape public policy.
He has served as Deputy Director and Policy Head at the India office of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is associated with the boards and advisory bodies of educational institutions, research organisations, NGOs and corporate establishments. Politicians, policymakers and business leaders have often turned to him for research, statistics and an informed reading of the developmental challenges before them. He is one of those people whose counsel is sought when a subject needs to be understood beyond the obvious.
And yet, for all the intellectual capital he carries and the range of his professional engagements, there is something disarmingly simple about the man. That familiar, generous smile rarely leaves his face. He is approachable and unassuming, seemingly untouched by the weight of the many accomplishments that have accumulated over the years.
It is difficult to place Prof. Amirullah Khan in a single professional category. Economist, educator, development expert, policy adviser, researcher and institution-builder – he is all of these, and more. It is this combination of scholarship, experience and an abiding interest in public welfare that the Telangana Government recognised on Wednesday by conferring on him the prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National Award.
There was a revealing glimpse of his temperament during the ceremony. Recalling how he had responded when informed of his nomination, Prof. Khan told the gathering that he had suggested to the jury that there were others more talented and deserving of the honour. The jury, however, stood by its choice and insisted that he accept the award. It was a modest remark, delivered without fuss, but one that said much about the man. After the ceremony, he stepped down from the dais and was joined by his family for a group photograph.
Intellectual Heritage
There is another side to Amirullah Khan that deserves attention alongside his work in economics and public policy. He comes from a family with a rich intellectual and Urdu literary heritage. The influence of his mother and the wider family’s engagement with literature and learning helped shape a man for whom education has never been merely an academic pursuit.
His affection for Urdu and its literary traditions has found expression in his efforts to sustain literary culture through Bazm-e-Sukhan, a group he co-founded with Ashhar Farhan. Through such efforts, poetry and the pleasures of literary conversation have continued to find a place in Hyderabad’s cultural life. It is a less familiar dimension of a man more often sought out for economics, statistics and policy research, but one that helps explain the breadth of his interests.
A career across institutions and ideas
Prof. Khan studied at Hyderabad Public School, Ramanthapur, before pursuing engineering at Osmania University’s College of Engineering. He went on to obtain a Post Graduate Diploma from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, and a Ph.D. from Jamia Millia Islamia.
He joined the Indian Civil Services in 1993 and was adjudged the best probationer for his esprit de corps during the 59th Foundation Course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. His early professional journey included working with Verghese Kurien at the National Dairy Development Board in Anand. He later worked with Computer Corporation alongside Hyderabad entrepreneur Ashhar Farhan, before taking up an assignment with the United Nations Development Programme on Project LARGE, dealing with legal adjustments and reforms for a globalising economy.
and (on right) mother-in-law Siddiqa Razvi, aunt Raheemunnisa Begum, Advocate Qudsia Tabassum, nephew Irfan Khan and Zakaria Khan
His career subsequently took him through Encyclopaedia Britannica, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the India Development Foundation, where he worked on education, health and agriculture. At the India office of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he served as Deputy Director and Policy Head, contributing to work in healthcare, education and agriculture.
Academia has remained a constant through this journey. He has taught at the Indian School of Business and NALSAR in Hyderabad, and has held academic engagements with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Manipal Institute of Technology, the Indian School of Public Policy and the M. Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute. His international engagements have included Edith Cowan University in Perth, Goucher College in Maryland and the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. He has also lectured at Harvard University.
His books and research span international trade, rural markets, education, health and the Indian economy. His co-authored works include The WTO Deadlocked, Common Property Resource Management, Integrating the Rural Poor into the Markets and States of the Indian Economy. He has also written on education and health with former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr. Rajiv Kumar. A columnist with Mint and Deccan Herald, he is associated with development-policy journals and founded the Centre for Development of Policy and Practice in 2019. In January 2024, he was appointed a Member of the Telangana Public Service Commission.
The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National Award, carrying a cash prize of Rs. 2.25 lakh, a citation, memento and shawl, recognises his contribution to the educational and social upliftment of minorities. Presented by the Telangana Urdu Academy on the occasion of National Education Day, the honour also brings into focus a life that has moved between the worlds of policy, academia and Urdu’s literary culture.
Perhaps the most fitting image of the day was not the presentation of the award itself, but the moment that followed: Prof. Khan stepping down from the dais and gathering with his family. For a man whose professional life has taken him across institutions and continents, it was a simple family photograph – and a reminder of the roots that have travelled with him.
