Former chief statistician T C A Anant appointed as member of UPSC

Former chief statistician T C A Anant has been named as a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the prestigious civil services examination to select the country's bureaucrats, diplomats and police officers among others, officials said Friday.

Anant was appointed Chief Statistician of India-cum-Secretary, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, in June 2010 for five years. In 2015, he was given extension till January 31, 2018, the date of his superannuation on completion of 60 years of age.

Anant, who worked as a Professor in Delhi School of Economics, was also a member of the task force on employment data creation set up by the Prime Minister's Office.

He will be administered the oath of office on Monday, the officials said.

As per rules, a member of the UPSC can have a maximum of six-year tenure or till an incumbent attains the age of 65.

The commission has a strength of 10 members, besides a chairperson.

After Anant's appointment, the commission will have one more vacancy of member.

At present, Arvind Saxena is the chairman of the UPSC. Saxena worked as the Director, Aviation Research Centre.

Former Delhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi, Prof. Pradeep Kumar Joshi, Air Marshal A S Bhonsle (retired), Sujata Mehta, Manoj Soni, Smita Nagaraj, M Sathiyavathy and Bharat Bhushan Vyas are members of the UPSC.

The commission conducts civil services examination annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.