After retiring from UNESCO, Atal functioned for a year as Director-General of the Indian Institute of Education, Pune and as Chairman of the Programmes Committee of the Indian Association of Social Science Institutions (IASSI).
He was a member of the ICSSR Council and of the Governing Board of the Gobind Vallabh Pant Institute of Social Sciences, Allahabad.
He served on the High-Powered Committee appointed by the Government of Rajasthan in 2007 to examine the Demand of Gujjars for a Tribal Status.
[2] He also served as Member of the National Advisory Committee for the International Symposium on Human Genomics ISHG 2009, organised by the Anthropological Survey of India in March 2009.
His books include:[5][6] A Festschrift honouring him was published under the title, Emerging Social Science Concerns (ISBN 81-8069-098-9, edited by Surendra K Gupta).