New Delhi: Dr Ajay Kumar, a distinguished former bureaucrat and former Defence Secretary, assumed charge as the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday. The oath of office and secrecy was administered by Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla (Retd.), the senior-most Member of the Commission.
Dr Kumar, an officer of the 1985 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from the Kerala cadre, brings with him over three and a half decades of experience in both state and central government roles. His tenure is marked by significant contributions to policy, governance, and digital transformation, especially in the domains of defence, information technology, and e-governance.
An alumnus of IIT Kanpur with a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering, Dr Kumar further pursued an M.S. in Applied Economics and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, USA. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Philosophy by Amity University in 2019.
At the state level in Kerala, he served as Managing Director of the Electronics and IT Department and as Principal Secretary in the IT Department. His central government roles included Director in the Department of Science & Technology, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and IT, Director General of the National Informatics Centre, and Secretary of Defence Production. His last posting before retirement was as Secretary, Ministry of Defence.
Dr Kumar is widely credited with pioneering several digital governance initiatives such as Jeevan Pramaan (digital life certificates for pensioners), MyGov, PRAGATI (Prime Minister’s interactive platform), biometric attendance systems, and cloud-based services for government departments.
He is a recipient of several prestigious honours, including the “Silver Elephant” from the National Scouts and Guides, “Electronics Leader of the Year” in 2012, “Technovation Sarabhai Award” in 2015, and “Champion of Change” by CEAMA in 2017. His body of work includes numerous publications in reputed national and international journals.
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