Chockalingam, an IAS officer of the 1996 Batch, was born and brough up in Pudukottai in Tamilnadu. While completing his LLB, he got fascinated by Civil Services and became an IAS in 1996. He served in almost all regions of Maharashtra during his career as an Indian Civil Servant in various capacities. As the Land Settlement Commissioner of the state, he spearheaded the mapping of rural settlements in Maharashtra using drone and CORS technology to create rural property records, which brought him to limelight in Indian Land Administration scenario. He now also sits as a member of Government of India committee looking at Conclusive Titling. He has helped the federal government in designing a national rural property card scheme called SVAMITVA which aims to map India’s 0.66 million villages.