NEW DELHI, 15 May: Former defence secretary Ajay Kumar on Thursday took oath as the chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The oath of office and secrecy was administered by retired lieutenant general Raj Shukla, the senior most member of the commission, an official statement said.
The post of UPSC chairman had fallen vacant after the completion of Preeti Sudan’s tenure on 29 April.
The UPSC conducts civil services examinations to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others. Besides the chairman, it can have a maximum of 10 members.
At present, two posts of members are vacant in the commission.
A UPSC chairman is appointed for a term of six years or until attaining 65 years of age.
Kumar is 1985-batch former IAS officer of Kerala cadre.
During his illustrious career of more than 35 years, he has served in key positions in Kerala as well as at the Centre, said the statement issued by the commission.
In his last assignment, he served as secretary, Ministry of Defence.
He has been instrumental in introducing several e-governance initiatives such as ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ (digital life certificates for pensioners); myGov, Pragati (Prime Minister’s video conference); biometric attendance system; OPD registration system in AIIMS; ‘cloud first’ policy for government for using cloud service providers, etc, it added.
Kumar has several publications to his credit in various national and international journals. (PTI)