The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2012, for his contributions to civil service.

Subsequently, he served as the Managing Director of the Cement Corporation of Uttar Pradesh before returning to revenue department posts as the secretary to the Government of Uttar Pradesh and headed various departments including Public Enterprises, Administrative Reforms, Planning, Home, Jail, Home Guards, Civil Defence, Political Pensions and Official Language.

[4] It was during his tenure as the Secretary, he made news by becoming the subject of a power struggle between Sitaram Kesari, the then Minister of Welfare who wanted Prasad to stay at his ministry, and Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh during that time, who invited Prasad to head the state bureaucracy.

[10] However, he was appointed a member of the Union Public Service Commission on 23 April 1998 and, after a stint of five years, he became the chairman of the agency on 8 September 2003.

[12] The Government of India included him in the Republic Day Honors list for the civilian award of the Padma Bhushan in 2012.