Sri Shailendra Kumar Joshi is born on 20 December, 1959 to Sri Shanker Lal Joshi and Smt Shyama Joshi couple in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. He had his school education at Sri Vishnu Bal Sadan and Government Inter College, Bareilly. Sri SK Joshi had studied Telugu as third language during 6th to 8th classes.
He got his Bachelors Degree in Engineering from IIT, Roorkee (1981) in Electronics and Communication Engineering, Master of Technology from IIT, Delhi (1983) in Communications and Radar Engineering and PhD (2010) from TERI School of Advanced Studies on “Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfers and the Environment – A Study of India.
Before joining IAS in 1984, Sri Joshi worked for 8 months in the Indian Railways Service as Signals and Telecommunications Engineer. He started the Civil Services career as Assistant Collector in Nellore. Later worked as Sub-Collector of Tenali and Vikarabad, Joint Collector and Collector of Krishna District.
As Secretary/ Principal Secretary / Special Chief Secretary the present Chief Secretary has handled the Departments of Information Technology, Irrigation and Command Area Development, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Energy, Medical and Health and Revenue in the State Government.
Had a 9 year stint with Government of India in the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in two spells (1991-1994 and 2001-2006) in various capacities (Under/ Deputy Secretary, Director and Joint Secretary) dealing with Ganga River Conservation, National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, International Cooperation, handling and negotiating Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances, Conventions on Climate Change and Biodiversity. Sri Joshi also served as Private Secretary to Honorable MoS in the Power, Non-conventional Energy Sources and Agriculture Ministries during the United Front Government (1996-98).
As the Joint Secretary, Sri SK Joshi was the National Focal Point for Climate Change (including Clean Development Mechanism), Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Environment Program. Also served for a year as the Vice-Chairman of Joint Implementation Mechanism of Kyoto Protocol in Bonn, Germany.
He holds the unique distinction of being associated with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992), Rio de Janeiro and the United Nation Summit on Sustainable Development (2002), Johannesburg. As a key negotiator of India, travelled many countries and participated in several bilateral and multinational negotiations.
Sri SK Joshi has to his credit a book titled Management of Transboundary Water Resources. He is appointed as Chief Secretary to Government of Telangana on 31st January, 2018.