Dr Manoj Soni Becomes New Chairman Of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

One of the eminent educationist in India, Dr. Manoj Soni becomes the new chairman of Union Public Service Commission. Dr. Manoj Soni joined the commission as a full time member on June 28, 2017. On Tuesday, Dr. Soni took the charge of the UPSC after swearing ceremony administered by former UPSC chairperson Smita Nagaraj. The new UPSC chairman previously held the position of Vice-Chancellor for three terms.

These include two consecutive terms as the vice chancellor of the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU), Gujarat, from August 1, 2009, to July 31, 2015, and a term as the vice chancellor of the Maharaja Sayajirao University ( MSU) of Baroda from April 2005 to April 2008. Dr. Manoj Soni was the youngest vice chancellor in the history of both India and the MSU when he joined the MSU of Baroda.

He is an expert in international relations studies and a political science scholar. Between 1991 and 2016. Dr. Soni served as the Vice-Chancellor of the two universities and also taught International Relations at Sardar Patel University (SPU), Vallabh Vidyanagar. Dr. Manoj Soni has won a number of honours and distinctions. In 2013, the Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, awarded him the title of “Honorary Mayor-President of the City of Baton Rouge” in recognition of his outstanding leadership in providing IT literacy to underprivileged members of society. Dr. Manoj Soni received the World Education Congress Global Award for Distance Learning Leadership in 2015 from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London, United Kingdom.

Dr. Manoj Soni has previously held various positions on the boards of governors for a number of higher education and public administration institutions. Earlier, he was also a member of a quasi-judicial committee established by a Gujarati legislative act. The committee controls the payment schedule for independent professional institutions in Gujarat. The official notification from UPSC notified  that two officers from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) will shortly become new members of the commission.