NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Ajit Kumar Seth will be the country's next cabinet secretary. The 1974 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, who is at present secretary public grievances and coordination in the Cabinet Secretariat, will succeed K M Chandrasekhar. The latter will retire next month after holding the post for four years including two extensions.
Seth's appointment has been cleared by the Prime Minister. He will be an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Cabinet Secretariat till June 13 and assume charge on June 14. As cabinet secretary he will have a fixed two-year tenure. Seth has been on deputation at the Centre since January 2009. In the 1980s, he served in the commerce ministry and for three years was the first secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN at Geneva.
Colleagues describe the St Stephen's College alumnus as a man of "impeccable integrity" – something which many believe was the key to his selection ahead of other "favourites" – and very methodical. He is also the senior-most empanelled officer of the 1974 batch. Sources in the Department of Personnel and Training said that the Prime Minister was keen to go by seniority. "Anybody in the establishment would vouch for his (Seth's) honesty. And he is an excellent officer, very clear about what he is to do and how it should be done. He is a stickler for rules," said a bureaucrat.
A former collegemate recalls the 59-year-old Seth as a keen debater and one who was a very enthusiastic participant in extracurricular activities. He has a masters' degree in chemistry and an M.Phil in life sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Seth later did a master's in development financé from University of Birmingham.
Sources say among the 1974 batch officers Seth edged out are Pulok Chatterjee, K Mohandas, Deepak Gupta, Alka Sirohi, Anup Mukherjee, K M Acharya and Vivek Mehrotra.
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Seth's appointment has been cleared by the Prime Minister. He will be an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Cabinet Secretariat till June 13 and assume charge on June 14. As cabinet secretary he will have a fixed two-year tenure. Seth has been on deputation at the Centre since January 2009. In the 1980s, he served in the commerce ministry and for three years was the first secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN at Geneva.
Colleagues describe the St Stephen's College alumnus as a man of "impeccable integrity" – something which many believe was the key to his selection ahead of other "favourites" – and very methodical. He is also the senior-most empanelled officer of the 1974 batch. Sources in the Department of Personnel and Training said that the Prime Minister was keen to go by seniority. "Anybody in the establishment would vouch for his (Seth's) honesty. And he is an excellent officer, very clear about what he is to do and how it should be done. He is a stickler for rules," said a bureaucrat.
A former collegemate recalls the 59-year-old Seth as a keen debater and one who was a very enthusiastic participant in extracurricular activities. He has a masters' degree in chemistry and an M.Phil in life sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Seth later did a master's in development financé from University of Birmingham.
Sources say among the 1974 batch officers Seth edged out are Pulok Chatterjee, K Mohandas, Deepak Gupta, Alka Sirohi, Anup Mukherjee, K M Acharya and Vivek Mehrotra.
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