K. S. Singh, formerly of the Indian Administrative Service, spent many years in the Jharkhand region serving and studying tribal people. He has researched and written extensively on tribes, their history and anthropology including movements, economy, customary law, literature, folklore, poetry, policy and programmes, famine and drought management and development administration. Among his well-known works are The Indian Famine 1967: A Study in Crisis and Change (1974), Birsa Munda and his Movement (1983), Tribal Society in India: An Anthropo-Historical Perspective (1985) and the introduction to People of lndia (1992/2002). The last book is part of his magnum opus, the 43 volume project on the people of India, based on the first pan-Indian survey of all communities of India, conceptualized, spearheaded, and edited by him, as Director General of Anthropological Survey of India (1984-93). He was National Professor at the Rajiv Gandhi Chair on Protective Discrimination, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong (1998-2000). He was associated with the conceptualization, designing and establishment of the first National Museum of Anthropology of which he was the first Director General (1984-85) and with several innovative developmental cultural and disaster management projects. He was recipient of the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship (1970-72), Birsa Munda Award (1986) for the services rendered to the tribal people, and Prof. G. S. Ghurye Award (1995) for the book The Scheduled Tribes.