P. V. Rajaraman was born on 2 February 1944 in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu[3] to P. S. Venkatachalam and Janaki. He did his studies at Madras University from where he secured a master's degree in Physics (MSc) and obtained another master's degree in Management (MA) from the University of Leeds, UK.[1] Later, he appeared for the Indian civil service examination in 1967[3] which he passed with first rank and joined the civil service in July 1967.[4] He served in the IAS for 37 years[1][5] at various posts including the post of the Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Tamil Nadu, till his retirement on 29 February 2004.[3]