New Delhi, May 15 (UNI) Former defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar on Thursday took oath as the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The oath was administered to him by retired Lt Gen Raj Shukla, the senior-most member of the commission. Dr. Ajay Kumar holds an MS in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota, USA and a PhD in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. He was also conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Amity University in 2019.

Dr Kumar is a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Kerala cadre. During his career spanning over three decades, he held important positions in the Kerala government as well as at the Centre.

In Kerala, he worked as managing director of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology and principal secretary of the Department of Information Technology, while holding important portfolios such as director of science and technology, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, director general of the National Informatics Centre, additional secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, secretary of defence production in the Central government. Dr. Kumar served as secretary of the Ministry of Defence as the last stint.

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