Govt appoints Ajay Bhushan Pandey UIDAI CEO

Central Government on Thursday promoted director general and mission director of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Ajay Bhushan Pandey as its chief executive officer (CEO).

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved appointment of A B Pandey, an IAS (Indian Administrative Service)," an official notice said.

A doctorate in computer science from University of Minnesota Minneapolis of the US, Pandey is a Maharashtra cadre IAS officer of 1984 batch.

He has been involved with the UIDAI established under the Aadhaar Act and implementation of Aadhaar since September 2010.

It was during his tenure as the UIDAI head when Aadhaar allocation crossed 100 crore and a new Aadhaar Bill was passed.

As per the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, the UID Authority shall consist of a chairperson, appointed part-time or full-time, two part-time members, and the chief executive officer who shall be member-secretary of the Authority, to be appointed by the central government.

"... A CEO of the Authority, not below the rank of additional secretary to the Government of India, is to be appointed by the central government," the Act states.