Rajeev Kumar assumes charge as Election Commissioner of India

Retired IAS officer Rajeev Kumar assumed charge as the Election Commissioner (EC) on September 1. Kumar, a 1984-batch Jharkhand cadre retired IAS officer, was appointed in place of EC Ashok Lavasa on August 21.

Outgoing EC Lavasa has been appointed vice-president of Asian Development Bank. Lavasa still has over two years left in his term at the Election Commission. He would have retired as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in October 2022.

As Chief Election Commissioner, he would have conducted Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, among other states. His premature exit — the second in the Election Commission’s history — puts his colleague Sushil Chandra next in the line of succession.

Kumar, who retired as Finance Secretary on April 29 this year, was appointed Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) for a period of three years. As Chief Election Commissioner, he is expected to oversee the next general election in 2024.

Born on February 19, 1960, Mr. Kumar is a 1984 batch IAS officer. He has been with the Central Service and the Bihar-Jharkhand State Services for over 36 years, liaising with various Ministries.

Mr. Kumar holds BSc, LLB, PGDM and MA Public Policy and has extensive experience in Social, Forest and Environment, Human Resources, Finance and Banking.

He is keen to periodically amend existing policy provisions and use technology in governance for the purpose of delivering services directly to citizens, eliminating intermediaries and greater transparency.

He retired as Union Finance Secretary in February 2020. He was subsequently appointed Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board in April 2020. He resigned on 31st August 2020. He was the Establishment Officer of the Personnel and Training Department during the period 2015-17. Prior to that, he served as Joint Secretary, Department of Finance, Ministry of Forests, Environment, Tribal Affairs, and Department of Education in the State Service.