Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission

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Template:Infobox official post

The Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission is the head of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), an Indian central recruiting agency. The chairperson is responsible for overseeing the conduct of exams, the transfer and promotion of higher officers and civil servants. The UPSC comes under the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India. The chairperson reports directly to the president of India.

Background

Template:See also

Term of office

The term for the UPSC chairperson is fixed up to six years or until reaching the age of 65, whichever is earlier. Under Article 316 of the Indian Constitution, the president appoints the members of the UPSC, including the chairperson. The chairperson's tenure is term-limited and ineligible for re-appointment as per Article 319.

Qualification of office

The chairperson of the UPSC must be a senior civil officer from All India Services or Central Civil Services, who has held positions under the Government of India or any state government for at least ten years. Any academician or a senior military officer can also be appointed as UPSC chairperson if served as a member of the commission itself. The chairperson or members of any state public service commissions can also be appointed as the chairperson.

Dismissals

The chairperson can be removed under Article 317, by order of the president on the ground of "misbehavior" after the Supreme Court, on a reference being made to it by the president, has, on inquiry reported that the chairman or such other member ought to be removed. The president may also remove the chairperson of the commission for:

  • being declared insolvent; or
  • engaging in any paid employment outside during their term of office ; or
  • being unfit to continue in office because of infirmity of mind or body.[1]

Responsibilities

The chairperson, along with other members of the UPSC, manages the recruitment of officers of All India Services and Central Civil Services, the transfer and promotion of higher officers, and deputation from one state to another. The chairperson's duties and service fall under the Union Public Service Commission (Members) Regulations, 1969. Upon the advice of the UPSC members, the tenure of any officer posted in a state or the union can be extended beyond the age of 60 years.

List of the chairpersons

List of the chairpersons of the Union Public Service Commission since 1947
Chairpersons Service or
profession 		Tenure start Tenure end Duration of office Previous post Appointed by
H. K. Kripalani ICS 1 April 1947 13 January 1949 Template:Ayd Chief Secretary of Bombay Province[2] width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party colour" rowspan=2| Louis Mountbatten
R. N. Banerjee 14 January 1949 9 May 1955 Template:Ayd Home Secretary of India C. Rajagopalachari
N. Govindarajan 10 May 1955 9 December 1955 Template:Ayd

—

width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party colour" rowspan=3| Rajendra Prasad
V. S. Hejmadi 10 December 1955 9 December 1961 Template:Ayd

—

B. N. Jha 11 December 1961 22 February 1967 Template:Ayd Cabinet Secretary of India
K. R. Damle 18 April 1967 2 March 1971 Template:Ayd Secretary to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India[3] width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party colour" rowspan=3| Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
R. C. S. Sarkar IASTemplate:NbndWB 11 May 1971 1 February 1973 Template:Ayd Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India V. V. Giri
A. R. Kidwai Academician 5 February 1973 4 February 1979 Template:Ayd Professor at Aligarh Muslim University
M. L. Shahare

—

16 February 1979 16 February 1985 Template:Ayd

—

width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party colour" rowspan=1| Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
H. K. L. Kapoor IASTemplate:NbndGJ 18 February 1985 5 March 1990 Template:Ayd Chief Secretary of the Government of Gujarat width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party colour" rowspan=7| Zail Singh
J. P. Gupta IRSME 5 March 1990 2 June 1992 Template:Ayd Chairperson of the Railway Board[4] Ramaswamy Venkataraman
R. M. Bathew (Kharbuli) IASTemplate:NbndML 23 September 1992 23 August 1996 Template:Ayd Member of the Meghalaya Public Service Commission[5] Shankar Dayal Sharma
S. J. S. Chhatwal IFS 23 August 1996 30 September 1996 Template:Ayd High Commissioner of India to Canada
J. M. Qureshi IPSTemplate:NbndMP 30 September 1996 11 December 1998 Template:Ayd Director general of the Madhya Pradesh Police
Lt. Gen Surinder Nath ArmyTemplate:NbndRegiment of Artillery 11 December 1998 25 June 2002 Template:Ayd Vice Chief of the Army Staff K. R. Narayanan
P. C. Hota IASTemplate:NbndOD 25 June 2002 8 September 2003 Template:Ayd Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, Government of India
Mata Prasad IASTemplate:NbndUP 9 September 2003 4 January 2005 Template:Ayd Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India[6] width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=4| A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
S. R. Hashim Academician 4 January 2005 1 April 2006 Template:Ayd Ambassador of India to Kazakhstan
Gurbachan Jagat IPSTemplate:NbndAGMUT 1 April 2006 30 June 2007 Template:Ayd Director General of Border Security Force
Subir Dutta IASTemplate:NbndWB 30 June 2007 16 August 2008 Template:Ayd Defence Secretary of India
D. P. Agrawal Academician 16 August 2008 16 August 2014 Template:Ayd Director of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=5| Pratibha Patil
Rajni Razdan IASTemplate:NbndHR 16 August 2014 21 November 2014 Template:Ayd Secretary to the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India[7] Pranab Mukherjee
Deepak Gupta IASTemplate:NbndJH 22 November 2014 20 September 2016 Template:Ayd Secretary to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India[8]
Alka Sirohi IASTemplate:NbndMP 21 September 2016 3 January 2017 Template:Ayd Secretary to the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India[9]
David R. Syiemlieh Academician 4 January 2017 21 January 2018 Template:Ayd Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh[10]
Vinay Mittal IRTS 22 January 2018 19 June 2018 Template:Ayd Chairperson of the Railway Board[11] width=1px bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=8| Ram Nath Kovind
Arvind Saxena IPoS 20 June 2018 (acting) 6 August 2020 Template:Ayd Special Secretary for the Aviation Research Centre[12]
28 November 2018 (permanent)
P. K. Joshi Academician 7 August 2020 4 April 2022 Template:Ayd Chairperson of the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission
Manoj Soni 5 April 2022 (acting) 31 July 2024 Template:Ayd Vice-chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University
16 May 2023 (permanent) Droupadi Murmu
Preeti Sudan IASTemplate:NbndAP 1 August 2024 29 April 2025 Template:Ayd Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Government of India
Ajay Kumar IASTemplate:NbndKL 15 May 2025 Incumbent Template:Ayd Defence Secretary of India

References

  1. ↑ Removal and suspension of a member of a Public Service Commission. Constitution of India. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  2. ↑ It was the Indian Civil Service that kept Pak going in the early years, BHATNAGAR, ARUN. The Sunday Guardian Live(2015-08-07). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  3. ↑ Report of the Oil Price Enquiry Committee, 1961{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. New Delhi, Manager of Publications(1961)
  4. ↑ New UPSC chief Arvind Saxena among the few non-IAS officers heading recruiting body, Dutta, Amrita Nayak. ThePrint(2018-11-30). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  5. ↑ History: Meghalaya Public Service Commission. www.mpsc.nic.in. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  6. ↑ Mata Prasad takes over as UPSC chairman. The Times of India(2003-09-09). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  7. ↑ Rajni Razdan takes over as new UPSC chief. The Economic Times(2014-08-16). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  8. ↑ Deepak Gupta made UPSC chairman. The Indian Express(2014-11-24). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  9. ↑ A Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, Alka Sirohi, assumes office as Member, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Before taking over her new charge, Sirohi - officer of 1974 batch - served as Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training, ministry of personnel.. The Times of India(2012-01-04). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  10. ↑ RGU VC appointed UPSC member. The Times of India(2012-05-29). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  11. ↑ babus of india: Know your UPSC Member and ex-Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal(2018-06-11). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  12. ↑ Arvind Saxena appointed acting chairman of UPSC: to take over from Vinay Mittal on 20 June. Firstpost(2018-06-10). Retrieved 2025-05-14.
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