The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has a new Chairman. Former Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar has been appointed to the prestigious position by the President of India, as of May 13, 2025. This appointment, made under Article 316(1) of the Constitution, marks another significant chapter in Kumar's distinguished career as a civil servant. He succeeds Preety Sudan, who completed her tenure on April 29, 2025. Kumar's term is set to last until October 2027, in accordance with service rules.
Ajay Kumar, born on October 2, 1962, is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1985 batch, belonging to the Kerala cadre. He brings a wealth of experience from various leadership roles held in both the Government of India and the Government of Kerala. Before being appointed as the UPSC chairman, Kumar served as the Defence Secretary of India from August 2019 to October 2022, where he was the longest-serving secretary in the Ministry of Defence. He also held the position of Secretary in the Department of Defence Production.
During his tenure as Defence Secretary, Kumar spearheaded several transformative initiatives. He played a crucial role in the restructuring of higher defence management, which included the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff in 2020. Furthermore, he was instrumental in launching the Agnipath scheme in 2022, a significant reform in the recruitment, training, and retention of personnel in the armed forces. Kumar was also among the key decision-makers who successfully managed the tense Indo-China border standoff after the Galwan incident in 2020 and is credited with transforming the defence industry ecosystem under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. In addition, he conceptualized and implemented the corporatization of the Ordnance Factories Board. He also originated the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) program, which supports startups in the defence, space, drone, and AI sectors.
Prior to his tenure in the Ministry of Defence, Kumar held several key positions in the electronics and information technology sector. He served as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Director General of the National Informatics Centre, Principal Secretary in the Government of Kerala, and Managing Director of the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (KELTRON). He was part of the team that implemented key Digital India initiatives in 2014, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Aadhaar, MyGov.in, Government e-Marketplace, and Jeevan Pramaan.
Ajay Kumar's earlier assignments include roles such as Joint Secretary in the Department of Information Technology, Director in the Department of Biotechnology, and Deputy Secretary in the Department of Home Affairs. He also served as a private secretary to a minister in the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. In the Kerala government, he has served as the district magistrate and collector of Palghat district, Secretary (Industries), and Managing Director of the Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, and General Manager in the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation.
Kumar's academic background includes a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur, as well as an M.S. in Applied Economics and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.
The UPSC is a constitutional body responsible for conducting the Civil Services Examination, a three-stage process comprising preliminary, main, and interview stages, for recruiting candidates to various civil services of the Government of India. The Commission is headed by a chairperson and can have up to ten members. With his extensive experience and proven track record, Ajay Kumar is well-positioned to lead the UPSC and uphold its mandate of selecting competent and meritorious individuals for the Indian civil services.
