Former Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey takes over as UPSC member

Former Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey on Friday took over as the member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the agency that conducts prestigious civil services examination to select the country's bureaucrats, diplomats and police officers.

Choubey, a 1981-batch (retired) IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, superannuated Thursday on attaining the age of 60 years.

He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by UPSC chairman Arvind Saxena, a statement issued by Personnel Ministry said.

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

During his career spanning over 35 years, Choubey held several important positions in the central government as well as in the government of Tamil Nadu.

He served as Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Development Commissioner (Handloom) in the Ministry of Textiles, Director General in the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Special Secretary, Ministry of Power.

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 is in its full strength.

The UPSC can have a 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 other 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.