Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is India’s central recruiting agency for central government public servants.
It is responsible for appointments to and examinations for Group A and Group B posts under civil services cadre and defence services cadre of the union government.
The UPSC’s charter is granted by Part XIV of the Constitution of India, titled as Services Under the Union and the States.
The commission is mandated by the Constitution for appointments to the services of the Union and All India Services.
It is also required to be consulted by the Government in matters relating to the appointment, transfer, promotion and disciplinary matters.
The commission is headquartered at Dholpur House, in New Delhi.
Pradeep Kumar Joshi has been the Chairman of UPSC since August 2020.
Established on 1 October 1926 as Public Service Commission, it was later reconstituted as Federal Public Service Commission by the Government of India Act 1935; only to be renamed as today’s Union Public Service Commission after the independence.
List of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Chairmen
S.No. | Chairman | Term started | Term ended |
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 | H. K. Kripalani | 1 April 1947 | 13 January 1949 |
6 | R. N. Banerjee | 14 January 1949 | 9 May 1955 |
7 | N. Govindarajan | 10 May 1955 | 9 December 1955 |
8 | V. S. Hejmadi | 10 December 1955 | 9 December 1961 |
9 | B. N. Jha | 11 December 1961 | 22 February 1967 |
10 | K. R. Damle | 18 April 1967 | 2 March 1971 |
11 | Ranadhir Chandra Sarma Sarkar | 11 May 1971 | 1 February 1973 |
12 | Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai | 5 February 1973 | 4 February 1979 |
13 | M. L. Shahare | 16 February 1979 | 16 February 1985 |
14 | H. K. L. Capoor | 18 February 1985 | 5 March 1990 |
15 | J. P. Gupta | 5 March 1990 | 2 June 1992 |
16 | Rose Millian Bathew (Kharbuli) | 23 September 1992 | 23 August 1996 |
17 | S. J. S. Chhatwal | 23 August 1996 | 30 September 1996 |
18 | J. M. Qureshi | 30 September 1996 | 11 December 1998 |
19 | Surendra Nath | 11 December 1998 | 25 June 2002 |
20 | Purna Chandra Hota | 25 June 2002 | September 2003 |
21 | Mata Prasad | September 2003 | January 2005 |
22 | S. R. Hashim | 4 January 2005 | 1 April 2006 |
23 | Gurbachan Jagat | 1 April 2006 | 30 June 2007 |
24 | Subir Dutta | 30 June 2007 | 16 August 2008 |
25 | D. P. Agrawal | 16 August 2008 | August 2014 |
26 | Rajni Razdan | 16 August 2014 | 21 November 2014 |
27 | Deepak Gupta | 22 November 2014 | 20 September 2016 |
28 | Alka Sirohi | 21 September 2016 | 3 January 2017 |
29 | David R. Syiemlieh | 4 January 2017 | 21 January 2018 |
30 | Vinay Mittal | 22 January 2018 | 19 June 2018 |
31 | Arvind Saxena (acting) | 20 June 2018 | 28 November 2018 |
32 | Arvind Saxena | 28 November 2018 | 24 August 2020 |
33 | Pradeep Kumar Joshi | 25 August 2020 | Incumbent |