Union Public Service Commission Chairperson Manoj Soni has resigned from the post five years before the expiry of his tenure in 2029, citing “personal reasons”. The official was sworn in as the Chairperson of the commission on May 16, 2023. He is all set to return to his home State Gujarat to take up new assignment. This could be an appointment affiliated to the powerful Swaminarayan cult that he believes in. Manoj Soni has a strong RSS- BJP background.
Soni’s resignation comes a day after the Commission submitted its probe report against trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar and issued show cause notice to cancel her candidature.
“His resignation is not in any way connected to controversies and allegations surrounding the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) after probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s issue came to the fore,” officials from the Department of Personnel and Training said. Reportedly, Soni tendered his resignation a fortnight ago.
He submitted the resignation to the President of India. However, the government has yet to accept his resignation. The government is due to announce the name of the new chairperson to replace Soni.
Eminent educationist Soni, 59, took over as a member of the Commission on June 28, 2017. He took oath as the UPSC chairman on May 16, 2023 and his term was to end on May 15, 2029. Prior to his appointment in the UPSC, Soni had served three terms as Vice Chancellor in two universities, in Gujarat. He served as the VC Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU) for two terms till 2015.
A scholar of political science with a specialisation in international relations, Soni taught international relations at Sardar Patel University (SPU), Vallabh Vidyanagar between 1991 and 2016, except for the period when he served as Vice-Chancellor of the two universities. Soni has earned a number of recognitions and awards and has significant number of publications to his credit.
He has also served on the boards of governors of several institutions of higher education and public administration. He also serves as a monk / Nishkam Karmayogi (selfless worker) in the Anoopam Mission of the Swaminarayan movement in Gujarat. In 2015, Dr Soni was honoured by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London, U.K. with the World Education Congress Global Award for Distance Learning Leadership.
Sources said that Soni was not keen on becoming the UPSC chairman and had requested to be relieved. They said Soni has now desired to devote more time to “socio-religious activities.”
The UPSC is headed by a chairman and can have a maximum of ten members. At present, there are seven members in the UPSC, three less than its sanctioned strength. Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, B.B. Swain, Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), and Suman Sharma from the Income Tax cadre of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) also joined as UPSC members recently.
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