Rajiv Kumar on Thursday, 12 May, was appointed the next chief election commissioner (CEC) of India. He will replace CEC Sushil Chandra, who is set to retire on 14 May.
Kumar will take charge of the office on 15 May, a government notification released by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju stated.
Kumar took charge as election commissioner on 1 September 2020, prior to which he had been the chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Board.
More About Rajiv Kumar
Kumar is a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service of Bihar/Jharkhand cadre 1984 batch, leaving the IAS in February 2020.
Before becoming the PESB chairman in April 2020, Kumar reportedly dedicated over three decades in working with central and state level of governments, across ministries and sectors. His experience ranges from social work, environmental work, finance, work within the human resource sector to banking.
The ex-PESB chairman has been accredited with having a hand in streamlining of the National Pension System (NPS), which aided around 18 lakh central administration employees.
Further, he has held several prominent posts such as Director of the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), State Bank of India (SBI) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) .
Kumar has also had memberships to the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), Bank Board Bureau (BBB), Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC), and Civil services Board among others.
Who is Sushil Chandra?
Sushil Chandra took charge as the 24th chief election commissioner on 14 April 2021. He was appointed as the election commissioner of India on 15 February 2019 and belongs to the 1980 Batch of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS).
Since February 2020, Chandra has been a part of the Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission, looking after the redrawing of electoral constituencies in the UT.
Prior to his appointment as election commissioner, Chandra was posted as the chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex body that looks after the implementation of direct taxes in India.
Chandra served in the IRS for 38 years before assuming charge as the chief election commissioner.
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