Rajiv Kumar (civil servant)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rajiv Kumar | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Rajiv Kumar | |
| 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India | |
| In office 15 May 2022[1] – 18 February 2025 | |
| Election Commissioner | |
| Preceded by | Sushil Chandra |
| Succeeded by | Gyanesh Kumar |
| Election Commissioner of India | |
| In office 1 September 2020 – 14 May 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Ashok Lavasa |
| Succeeded by | Arun Goel |
| Chairman of Public Enterprise Selection Board | |
| In office 1 March 2020 – 31 August 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Kapil Dev Tripathi |
| Succeeded by | Mallika Srinivasan |
| Finance Secretary of India | |
| In office 1 August 2019 – 29 February 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Subhash Chandra Garg |
| Succeeded by | Ajay Bhushan Pandey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rajiv Kumar Agarwal 19 February 1960 Hasanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Alma mater | St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University of Delhi |
| Occupation | Retired IAS Officer |
Rajiv Kumar (born 19 February 1960 in Hasanpur District Amroha Uttar Pradesh) is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer.[2][3] On 15 May 2022, he assumed the charge as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India,[4][5] and served until 18 February 2025.[6][7]
Rajiv Kumar was born on 19 February 1960 in Hasanpur District Amroha Uttar Pradesh, he holds degrees in BSc from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi then he further on completed his LLB, PGDM, and a master's degree in public policy. Rajiv completed his LLB from Delhi University between 1979 and 1982 and he is also an alumnus of the TERI School of Advanced Studies.[8]
Career
Rajiv Kumar is an Indian Administrative Service officer of the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre of the 1984 batch. As the director and joint secretary in the Tribal Affairs Ministry between 2001 and 2007, Kumar drafted the Scheduled Tribes (Reorganisation of Forests Rights) Bill, 2005.[citation needed]
Rajiv Kumar has also held other positions such as director for the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), SBI, and NABARD. He has also been a member of the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC), Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), Bank Board Bureau (BBB) and Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC). He held the post of finance secretary between September 2017 and February 2020. During his tenure, he undertook several banking, insurance, and pension reforms. Kumar has been instrumental in streamlining the National Pension System (NPS) which extends its benefits to about 18 lakh central government employees. He superannuated from service in February 2020 and later he held the post of chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board since April 2020 before being appointed as the Election Commissioner of India on 1 September 2020.[citation needed]
As Finance Secretary-cum-Secretary, Department of Financial Services to GOI, (Sept 2017 - Feb 2020), Kumar supervised the financial services sector and was instrumental in introducing inter-alia major initiatives/reforms in Banking, Insurance & Pension sector.[9][10]
25th Chief Election Commissioner
Rajiv Kumar was appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) on 15 May 2022.[11] He served their till 18 February 2025.[12] After assuming charge, Kumar trekked for 18 km through inaccessible terrain[13] to visit an interior polling station in Dumak village[14] in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. He assessed the polling requirements and motivated polling officials, who travel through tough terrains during elections.[15]
Kumar successfully conducted 16th Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections in 2022.[16][17] Droupadi Murmu and Jagdeep Dhankhar were respectively elected as the President and the Vice-President of India.[18][19][20][21]
State Assembly Elections
Kumar, in his tenure, led the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in November–December 2022, three Northeastern States - Tripura,[22][23][24] Nagaland and Meghalaya[25][26]