UPSC member Vijay Singh resigns

Former IAS officer Vijay Singh has resigned from the post of member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Singh's resignation has been accepted by President Pranab Mukherjee with effect from April 30, according to an official notification by the Department of Personnel and Training.
Singh, a former Defence Secretary, had taken over as UPSC member on November 19, 2009. His resignation came about two months before his tenure was scheduled to get over after attaining the age of superannuation.
A UPSC member is appointed for a period of six years or till an individual attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. He was born on July 13, 1948.

The reason behind Singh's resignation was not immediately known.
Singh, a former 1970 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh Cadre, had held several important assignments both in the state and at the Centre during his 37-year career.

His assignments at the Centre included Director in the Department of Cultural Affairs, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and in Ministry of Finance. He became Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh in October, 2004 and served there till January, 2006.
At present, former CBI Director A P Singh, Purushottam Agarwal, I M G Khan, Prashanta Kumar Mishra, Rajni Razdan, Venkatarami Reddy Y, Alka Sirohi, David R Syiemlieh and Manbir Singh are the other members in the UPSC board headed by Chairman Prof D P Agrawal.

UPSC conducts the prestigious civil services examination annually to select IAS, IPS and IFS among others.