In 98 years of UPSC’s history 4th woman to head India’s premier recruitment agency
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ July 31,2024
Preeti Sudan has been appointed as the chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Preeti Sudan, who is a member of the UPSC, will take charge of the position on Thursday, August 1,2024
She is going to be the fourth woman to head India’s premier recruitment agency. Earlier R.M.Bathew (Kharbuli) became the first woman to head UPSC from Sept. 23, 1992 Aug. 23, 1996. Later Rajni Razdan remained its chairman from August, 2014 November, 2014 and Alka Sirohi from September 21, 2016 January 3, 2017
Preeti Sudan, an IAS Officer of 1983 batch from Andhra Pradesh cadre, appointed as Member, Union Public Service Commission on 29.11.2022. She retired as Union Health Secretary in July, 2020.
She has vast experience of nearly 37 years in the almost all spheres of Government Administration. In her last stint as Union Health Secretary for three years, especially the last six months, she handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to this, she was Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution. Smt. Sudan also served in Women & Child Development and Defence Ministries. While serving in the State Administration, she handled Finance & Planning, Disaster Management, Tourism and Agriculture.
She is M. Phil in Economics & M.Sc. in Social Policy and Planning from LSE. Preeti Sudan has made many notable contributions in various National Level programmes.
The initiation of two major flagship programmes of the country i.e. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Ayushman Bharat apart from Legislation on National Medical Commission, Allied Health Professionals Commission & ban of E-cigarettes are some such important initiatives.
She was also Consultant with World Bank. She served as Chair of COP-8 of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Vice Chair of Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Chair of Global Digital Health Partnership and as member of WHO’s Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
In 98 years of UPSC’s history 4th woman to head India’s premier recruitment agency and she will take charge of the position on Thursday, August 1,2024.
List of UPSC Chairmen (1926-2024)
| Chairman Name | Date of Joining | Date of Retirement |
| 1. Sir Ross Barker | October 1926 | August 1932 |
| 2. Sir David Petrie | August 1932 | 1936 |
| 3. Sir Eyre Gorden | 1937 | 1942 |
| 4. Sir F.W. Robertson | 1942 | 1947 |
| 5. Sh. H.K. Kripalani | April 1, 1947 | January 13, 1949 |
| 6. Sh. R.N. Banerjee | January 14, 1949 | May 9, 1955 |
| 7. Sh. N. Govindarajan | May 9, 1955 | Dec. 9, 1955 |
| 8. Sh. V.S. Hejmadi | Dec. 9, 1955 | Dec. 9, 1961 |
| 9. Sh. B.N. Jha | Dec. 11, 1961 | Feb.22, 1967 |
| 10. Sh. K.R. Damle | April 18, 1967 | March 2, 1971 |
| 11. Sh. R.C.S. Sarkar | May1,1971 | Feb.1, 1973 |
| 12. Dr. A.R. Kidwai | Feb. 5, 1973 | Feb. 4, 1979 |
| 13. Dr. M.L. Shahare | Feb.16, 1979 | Feb.16, 1985 |
| 14. Sh. H.K.L. Capoor | Feb.18, 1985 | March 5, 1990 |
| 15. Sh. J.P. Gupta | March 5, 1990 | June 2, 1992 |
| 16. Mrs. R.M.Bathew (Kharbuli) | Sept. 23, 1992 | Aug. 23, 1996 |
| 17. Sh. S.J.S. Chhatwal | Aug. 23, 1996 | Sept. 30, 1996 |
| 18. Sh. J.M. Qureshi | Sept. 30, 1996 | Dec. 11, 1998 |
| 19. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Surinder Nath | Dec. 11, 1998 | June 25, 2002 |
| 20. Sh. P.C. Hota | June 25, 2002 | Sept. 8, 2003 |
| 21. Sh. Mata Prasad | Sept. 8, 2003 | Jan.4, 2005 |
| 22. S. R. Hashim | January 2005 | April 2006 |
| 23. D. P. Agrawal | August 2008 | August 2014 |
| 24. Rajni Razdan | August, 2014 | November, 2014 |
| 25. Deepak Gupta | November 2014 | September 2016 |
| 26. Alka Sirohi | September 21, 2016 | January 3, 2017 |
| 27. David R. Syiemlieh | January 4, 2017 | January 21, 2018 |
| 28. Vinay Mittal | January 22, 2018 | June 19, 2018 |
| 29. Arvind Saxena | June 20, 2018 | August 6, 2020 |
| 30. Pradeep Kumar Joshi | August 7, 2020 | April 4, 2022 |
| 31. Dr. Manoj Soni | April 5, 2022 | July,2024 |
