The Centre on Thursday finally appointed a senior bureaucrat from Madhya Pradesh as the new Chairman of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), a post which remained vacant for the past one and a half years. MP cadre IAS of 1987 batch Rajesh Chaturvedi was appointed as CBSE chief by the Prime Minister-led Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) for a five-year term.
The appointment comes following rejection of the name recommended by former HRD Minister Smriti Irani. The Centre had conveyed to the HRD Ministry on Wednesday that Central Staffing Scheme (CSS) will be applied in the appointment of new CBSE chief and thus PM personally chose Chaturvedi to lead the board which has been conducting the crucial board examinations, entrance examinations and other activities without a regular Chairman. HRD Joint Secretary YSK Seshu Kumar was given the additional charge of CBSE till date.
In an embarrassment to Irani, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday had rejected the name of candidate forwarded by her for the post. After the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Irani is now the Textiles Minister while Prakash Javadekar has joined as the new HRD minister. The appointment of Chaturvedi comes as a shot in the arm for Javadekar who has just been appointed as the new HRD Minister.
Sources said ACC did not accept the proposal in the name of Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh which was forwarded by HRD Ministry when Smriti Irani was at the helm. This was the third futile attempt by the HRD Ministry to appoint a new CBSE chief with one being Additional Secretary Satbir Silas Bedi and one occasion the name could not be finalized and sent to the PMO.
Singh was Irani’s top choice for the position and the HRD Ministry had earlier this year forwarded his name to Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). “The ACC has not accepted the proposal to appoint Singh as CBSE chief. In the meeting it was decided that the post will be filled under the CSS,” a HRD Ministry spokesperson said.