Former diplomat Sujata Mehta appointed UPSC member

New Delhi, February 23

Former diplomat Sujata Mehta and Air Marshal Ajit Shankarrao Bhonsle have been appointed as members in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) here.

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Mehta and Bhonsle to the posts for a period of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, an order issued by Personnel Ministry said.

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With these appointments, the strength of the Commission has gone up to seven. The UPSC, which is headed by chairman Prof David R Syiemlieh, can have a maximum of 10 members.

Mehta (59), a 1980-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, was in contention for the post of Foreign Secretary.

Mehta, who was due to retire next month-end after completing 60 years age of superannuation, has left the service and taken the oath as the UPSC member, a senior government official said today.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar was in January given one-year extension. Jaishankar, a 1977-batch IFS officer, was appointed Foreign Secretary on January 29, 2015, few days before his retirement.

Born on March 30, 1957, Mehta has done her Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Political Science.

She had served in Indian Missions in Moscow, Dhaka and at the United Nations in New York. Mehta had also served on deputation to the UN in Gaza and New York.

She was Ambassador to Spain and also served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva before returning to headquarters in July, 2013 as Additional Secretary and later Special Secretary.

Mehta was appointed Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs in February, 2014 and took charge as Secretary (West) in the Ministry in January 2016.

Both Mehta and Bhonsle have been appointed to the posts with effect from February 21, the official said.

60-year-old Air Marshal Bhonsle has done his Master of Science, MBA and M.Phil from National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College, College of Defence Management and National Institute of Defence Studies, Japan.

He has rich and varied experience in command and staff appointments during the 39 years of service in the Indian Air Force.

He is the recipient of two Presidential Awards: Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).

The UPSC conducts civil services examination annually in three stages — preliminary, main and interview — to select officers for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others. — PTI