Former Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar takes charge as UPSC Chairman
Dr Ajay Kumar, former Defence Secretary and a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, took oath as Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission on 15 May 2025.
Summary
Dr Ajay Kumar, former Secretary, Ministry of Defence, took the oath of office and secrecy as Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on 15 May 2025. The oath was administered by Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd), the senior-most Member of the Commission. A 1985-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, he holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur and an MS and PhD from the University of Minnesota. At the Centre he served as Director General of the National Informatics Centre, Secretary (Defence Production) and Defence Secretary, and helped introduce e-governance initiatives such as Jeevan Pramaan.
Key facts
- New UPSC Chairman
- Dr Ajay Kumar
- Took charge
- 15 May 2025
- Oath administered by
- Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd), senior-most Member
- Service
- IAS 1985 batch, Kerala cadre
- Last post
- Secretary, Ministry of Defence
Practice MCQs 2 questions
Who took oath as Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission on 15 May 2025?
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Correct answer: C — Dr Ajay Kumar
Dr Ajay Kumar, former Defence Secretary, took oath as UPSC Chairman. Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd), the senior-most Member, administered the oath.
Consider the following statements about the new UPSC Chairman (May 2025): 1. He is a 1990-batch IAS officer. 2. The oath of office was administered to him by the President of India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: D — Neither 1 nor 2
Neither is correct. Dr Ajay Kumar is a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, and the oath was administered by Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd), the senior-most Member of the Commission.