Former finance secretary Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) of India.
Kumar has joined the Election Commission of India with Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, the Election Commission confirmed in a statement.
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Kumar, who was born on February 19, 1960, is a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.
During the span of more than 36 years of service, Kumar has worked in various ministries at the Centre and his state cadre of Bihar/Jharkhand.
Kumar, who has acquired academic degrees of B.SC, LL.B, PGDM and MA Public Policy, has extensive work experience across social sector, environment & forests, human resources, finance and banking Sector.
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He has keen commitment to the use of technology applications and to bring about amendments in extant policy regime towards greater transparency, delivery of services to citizens directly, eliminating intermediaries.
Kumar retired as finance secretary to the central government in February 2020.
Thereafter he was appointed as the chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board from April 2020 till demitting office on August 31, 2020.
Kumar also served as the establishment officer at the Department of Personnel and Training from 2015-17.
Prior to that, he served as a joint secretary to the Department of Expenditure with earlier assignments in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Education department in the state cadre.
Rajiv Kumar is an avid trekker with a keen interest in Indian classical and devotional music.