The President of India has appointed Dr Ajay Kumar (Retd IAS: 1985: KL), former Defence Secretary, as the new Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) under Article 316(1) of the Constitution. Dr Kumar took over the reins following the completion of Preety Sudan’s term on April 29, 2025.
About Dr Ajay Kumar
Dr Kumar, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, retired as Defence Secretary on October 31, 2022, and is eligible to serve as UPSC Chairman until October 2027.
An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and the University of Minnesota, Dr Kumar brings vast administrative and technological experience to the constitutional post. He is known for being the longest-serving secretary in the Ministry of Defence, having also helmed the Department of Defence Production.
Prior to his role in Defence, he served in various key positions, including Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Director General of the National Informatics Centre. He played a pivotal role in launching the Digital India initiatives in 2014, which included transformative platforms such as Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), MyGov.in, GeM, and Jeevan Pramaan.
The UPSC, which conducts the annual Civil Services Examination in three stages—Preliminary, Main, and Interview—is headed by a Chairperson and can have up to ten members.
Dr Kumar’s appointment comes at a crucial time as UPSC continues to modernize and streamline recruitment processes for India’s top administrative posts.
