Amid the ongoing controversy regarding the use of fake caste and disability certificates by UPSC candidates for selection, news has emerged that Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Chairperson Manoj Soni has resigned. Due to “personal reasons,” almost five years before his tenure ends in 2029. Manoj Soni had submitted his resignation to the President a month ago, but the government has yet to decide on it.
UPSC Chairperson Manoj Soni Resigns
Why In News
- Amid the ongoing controversy regarding the use of fake caste and disability certificates by UPSC candidates for selection, news has emerged that Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Chairperson Manoj Soni has resigned. Due to “personal reasons,” almost five years before his tenure ends in 2029. Manoj Soni had submitted his resignation to the President a month ago, but the government has yet to decide on it.
Manoj Soni
- The official joined the commission as a member in 2017. He was sworn in as the Chairperson of the commission on May 16, 2023. Soni’s tenure was supposed to end in 2029.
- Dr Soni served three terms as Vice-Chancellor; two consecutive terms as Vice-Chancellor of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU) from August 1, 2009, to July 31, 2015, and one term as Vice-Chancellor of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (MSU of Baroda) from April 2005 to April 2008.
- Mr. Soni is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had picked him as the Vice-Chancellor of Vadodara’s famous MS University in 2005 when he was 40 years old.
- At the time of his joining MSU of Baroda, Dr Soni was the youngest ever Vice-Chancellor in India.
- According to sources, he wants to devote more time to Anoopam Mission, a branch of Swaminarayan Sect in Gujarat. He became a monk or nishkam karmayogi (selfless worker) in the Mission after receiving diksha or initiation in 2020.
- Sources added that the resignation was not linked to the controversy regarding trainee Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar, who allegedly forged identity papers and presented a disability certificate to get into the service.
UPSC
- UPSC is a constitutional body as mandated under Article 315-323 Part XIV Chapter II of the Constitution of India. The Commission conducts several examinations on behalf of the Union government.
- It also conducts civil services examinations every year and recommends candidates for appointment to the IAS, Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Central Services – Group A and Group B.
- The Commission is headed by a Chairperson and can have a maximum of 10 members. There were seven members besides the Chairperson.
