New Delhi: Senior bureaucrat Mandeep K Bhandari was appointed chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) following a bureaucratic reshuffle carried out by the Centre on Friday.
The move comes months after the CBSE faced widespread allegations of irregularities in the rollout of its On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for assessing Class 12 answer scripts. The Board had ordered a probe into the procurement of services for the controversial platform, which was reportedly plagued by glitches. On June 2, then CBSE chairman Rahul Singh and secretary Himanshu Gupta were transferred, with Prashant Lokhande appointed as the new CBSE chairperson.
Bhandari, a 2001 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories) cadre, is currently working as Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Bhandari’s appointment as the CBSE chairperson, an order issued by the personnel ministry said.
Senior IAS officer Lokhande Prashant Sitaram had additional charge of the post.
On July 2 this year, Sitaram was appointed an Additional Secretary in the Union Home Ministry, holding additional charge as the CBSE chairperson. Incidentally, he was appointed as the CBSE chief on June 2 after the incumbent was shunted out amid the On-Screen Marking system row.
Vipin Kumar, Chairman of the Airports Authority of India, has been named as Additional Secretary, Department of Rural Development, the personnel ministry’s order said.
Srikant Nagulapalli, Director General of Hydrocarbons, will now be Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure.
V Ponnuraj, a 2000 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, has been appointed Director General of Hydrocarbons in place of Nagulapalli.
Sarita Chauhan Chand, Additional Secretary in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, has been appointed as Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, Ministry of Steel.
Senior bureaucrat Anand Singh will be Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; P Hemalatha will be Additional Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training; and Piyush Singh will be Additional Secretary, Ministry of Power.
Ankita Mishra Bundela, Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has been named as Additional Secretary, Department of Higher Education.
Manisha Sensarma will be Additional Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the order said.
