(HT)
Former defence secretary Ajay Kumar has been appointed the new chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), according to a government order issued on Tuesday late night.
The appointment of Kumar, a 1985-batch retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Kerala cadre, was cleared by President Droupadi Murmu, the order said.
“The President is pleased to appoint Dr Ajay Kumar as Chairman, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) under Article 316(1) of the Constitution of India [which outlines the appointment process for public service commissions’ members],” the order issued by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) said.
The tenure of Kumar will “commence from the day he enters upon the office of Chairman, UPSC,” it added.
UPSC conducts the central civil services examination to select officers for the IAS, Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others, oversees promotions, deputations, and disciplinary cases related to different services. A UPSC chairperson’s tenure is for six years or until attaining 65 years of age.
According to his service records, Kumar worked as defence secretary from August 23, 2019 to October 31, 2022.
The UPSC chairperson’s post fell vacant after the completion of Preeti Sudan’s tenure on April 29. Sudan, a former health secretary, was appointed as UPSC chief in July last year following the abrupt resignation by her predecessor Manoj Soni, nearly five years before his term as the Commission’s chairperson was to end in May 2029.
The UPSC was in the news last year over the controversy surrounding Maharashtra-cadre IAS probationary officer Puja Khedkar, who has been accused of using fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to gain an unfair advantage in the UPSC selections.
