Know more about newly-appointed Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar

New Delhi, Aug 22: The former finance secretary Rajiv Kumar has been appointed new election commissioner replacing Ashok Lavasa, who resigned earlier this week. He will take charge of the office on September 1. His appointment in the middle when the election commission is arranging to hold Bihar assembly polls amid the coronavirus pandemic.

 

"In pursuance of clause (2) of Article 324 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Rajiv Kumar, (IAS retired) as the election commissioner with effect from the date he assumes the office vice Shri Ashok Lavasa, election commissioner who has resigned with effect August 31," official notification of the Ministry of Law and Justice said.

 

Rajiv Kumar is a retired IAS officer of 1984 batch of Jharkhand cadre. With over three decades of experience in public policy and administration across various sectors, he had a major contribution in merging 10 public sector banks into four. In the span of his two-and-half-year as a financial services secretary, he took many policy decisions to promote responsive and responsible banking.

 

Kumar undertook a massive 3 lakh crore rupees recapitalization of banks during his tenure. He also played a vital role in taking ahead Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan of financial inclusion, aimed at boosting credit access and job creation, through flagship schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra loan scheme, among others. He is known to have initiated and implemented the 59-minute loan scheme for the MSME sector.

 

Meanwhile, Lavasa will take up the position of vice-president at the Asian Development Bank.