Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey named UPSC member

Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey has been named as the member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) that conducts prestigious civil services examination to select the country's bureaucrats, diplomats and police officers, officials said Tuesday.

Choubey, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, is due to superannuate on Thursday after completing 60 years of age.

He will be administered the oath of office by UPSC chairman Arvind Saxena on Friday, the officials said.

Choubey was in June 2015 named as the Civil Aviation Secretary.

He has worked as Special Secretary, Power Ministry; Director General, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons under the Petroleum Ministry, and in other central and Tamil Nadu government departments.

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.

With Choubey's appointment, the Commission will be in its full strength.

The UPSC can have maximum of 10 members, besides a chairperson.

Former Delhi Police commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi, former chief statistician T C A Anant, 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.