Amarjit spent the first ten years of his district tenure in the IAS in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, serving in Kutch, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, and Rajkot. This period was marked by significant learning, professional development, and deep engagement with Gujarati society.

Thereafter, he spent five years with the Government of India in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, where he worked in the public health sector. He was actively involved in a major World Bank-assisted programme for the control of cataract blindness, which enabled a substantial expansion of cataract surgeries across the country through the skill upgradation of health professionals and public-private partnerships. He subsequently completed a PhD in Health Economics at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom, on the cost-effectiveness of the Blindness Control Programme in Karnataka. His research findings, published in The Lancet, along with other similar studies, contributed to the discontinuation of sub-optimal eye camps.

After completing his PhD, he served for almost six years as Health Commissioner of Gujarat. This was among his most impactful assignments. During this period, the state health team made a significant contribution to reducing maternal mortality through Chiranjeevi, a public-private partnership that engaged private obstetricians. The initiative was honoured with the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2008.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has featured this initiative as a global model for reducing maternal mortality (MMR): https://learn-uhc.srhc.org/story/15.

He facilitated the establishment of the Indian Institute of Public Health in Gandhinagar.

From 2010 to 2017, he served in the Government of India across the Ministries of Health & Family Welfare, Human Resource Development, and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. He was involved in major initiatives relating to population stabilisation, teacher education, the completion of 106 major irrigation projects that had remained incomplete for several years at a cost of Rs 77,000 crore, and the initiation of the programme for cleaning the Ganges.

He retired in 2017 as Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Post-retirement, he served as Chairman of the Gujarat Real Estate Regulatory Authority until November 2022.

He currently serves on the Boards of:

• Bhaikaka University, Anand (founded by Shri H. M. Patel)
• Amrita Patel Centre for Public Health
• Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd.
• Deepak Charitable Trust

He is a regular speaker at:

• National Centre for Good Governance, where he is involved in training programmes for civil servants from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives, and various Indian states
• Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar (IIPHG)
• Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar
• IIT Gandhinagar
• AIIMS, Jammu
• National Defence College, New Delhi

His articles have been published in prestigious journals and publications, including The Lancet, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, The Tribune, and The Indian Express.

Book

Singh, A., Saha, D., & Tyagi, A. (Eds.). (2019). Water Governance: Challenges and Prospects.

Book Chapter

Chapter in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) publication, Viksit Bharat @2047: Governance Transformed, titled Problems and Prospects in the Health Sector in India, published by DARPG and The International Institute of Administrative Sciences, Brussels.