The present UPSC Chairman is Dr. Ajay Kumar, who has been appointed to this office from 14 May 2025 as the 37th Chairman of the Commission.

Fifteen chairmen have served less than a two-year term of office, while very few chairmen have had the complete term of six years, which is allowed by the Constitution. 

Two chairmen of the Commission since 1926 have not served simultaneously; however, two chairmen have served the Commission initially on an interim basis, namely Arvind Saxena and Manoj Soni.

List of UPSC Chairmen (1926 to 2026)

The table below traces the office from the colonial-era Public Service Commission to today’s Union Public Service Commission.

S. No.	UPSC Chairman	From	To
1	Sir Ross Barker	October 1926	August 1932
2	Sir David Petrie	August 1932	1936
3	Sir Eyre Gordon	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	20 June 2018	6 August 2020
32	Pradeep Kumar Joshi	7 August 2020	4 April 2022
33	Manoj Soni	5 April 2022	July 2024
34	Preeti Sudan	1 August 2024	29 April 2025
35	Ajay Kumar	14 May 2025	October 2027 (incumbent)

Who Is the UPSC Chairman of 2026?

The current Chairman of the UPSC is Dr. Ajay Kumar, who has been serving in this position since 14 May 2025 as the 37th Chairman of the Commission.

The officer is from the 1985 IAS batch, Kerala cadre. Dr. Kumar was the Defence Secretary of India from August 2019 till October 2022, and the position of the Chief of Defence Staff was created during his tenure in the ministry.

Dr. Ajay Kumar graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, and went on to get a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.

This selection is yet another case which the list above highlights. The government appoints the chairman from outside the UPSC. It means that the new chairman will have to acquaint himself with the internal workings of the Commission.

How Did the Commission Begin?

Ross Barker Sir headed the Public Service Commission from 1926, which, however, lacked any teeth during that period of time.

The recruitment formula of the Lee Commission of the 1920s was based on a blend of posts to be filled by British candidates, the Indians who were recruited directly, and those who were promoted to the post from provincial services.

In 1935, the Government of India Act made this advisory board the Federal Public Service Commission with a clear legal status years before independence. After 1947, this board came to be called the Union Public Service Commission.

On 26 January 1950, the Constitution protected this body from being dissolved or curtailed by any future government by passing an ordinary law.

This is the reason why a UPSC chairman cannot just be sacked on an order from any minister as it was possible earlier. This has become necessary now for the President to take action in accordance with the Constitution.

Who Was the First Indian UPSC Chairman?

H. K. Kripalani took over just before India’s independence and therefore became the link between the Colonial Board and the present-day Commission.

He assumed office on 1 April 1947, four-and-a-half months before 15 August 1947. As his tenure ended in January 1949, he presided over the Commission in precisely those months when the administrative machinery of the country was reorganising itself after Partition.

All the chairmen who succeeded him have been citizens of India, and most of them have belonged to either the IAS or a similar all-India service. This tradition has been established by the appointment of H. K. Kripalani even before the Constitution secured the Commission in 1950.

His tenure was less than two years, shorter than the six-year period which is now the maximum allowed by the rules for such a term of office.

Who was the First Woman UPSC Chairman?

Rose Millian Bathew (Kharbuli) ended a 66-year gap in the leadership of the Commission when she was appointed in 1992.

She was in office from 23 September 1992 to 23 August 1996 for four years. No woman chairman before her, in all the sixteen chairmanships offered from the year 1926, had ever been appointed.

This was a period when very few women actually occupied the position of the head of the constitution-making body of India. Her appointment represented a change in attitude by the government towards appointing women as the chairman of the Commission.

After her tenure, only a few among the listed chairmen have been women.

How Is the UPSC Chairman Appointed and Removed?

Article 316 of the Constitution gives the President of India powers to nominate the chairman.

In case of a vacancy during the term, the President is authorized to appoint one among the members of the Commission temporarily until the time he makes a final appointment. This has happened to Arvind Saxena and Manoj Soni.

There is no provision for removal at the discretion of any minister in the Constitution. According to Article 317, the President has the power to remove the chairman for some definite reasons, like misbehaviour or insolvency, only after considering the matter in the Supreme Court.

This two-tier procedure of judicial inquiry followed by the presidential decision marks out the position of chairman from other positions within the government framework. It ensures the independence of the leadership from the government.

Tenure, Salary and Eligibility of the UPSC Chairman

The Constitution limits the term of office of the chairman to six years or until he turns 65 years old, whichever occurs earlier.

Once the chairman’s term ends, the government cannot reappoint him or appoint him to another government post. This provision prevents the chairman from making decisions based on his future prospects.

The annual salary of the chairman is fixed at 30 lakh rupees, which translates into 2.5 lakh rupees per month. The other members of the commission receive marginally lower pay of 2.25 lakh rupees per month. Before the seventh pay commission enhanced the salaries, the monthly pay of the chairman was a mere 90,000 rupees.

The Constitution does not prescribe any specific educational qualification. It only requires at least half of the members, including the chairman, to have served in a government post for ten years before their appointment.

Powers and Functions of the UPSC Chairman

According to Article 320, the government has to consider the views of the Commission regarding recruitments, with the chairman chairing the process.

The chairman examines recruiting persons into Group A and Group B service positions in the central government. It includes the examination for selecting IAS, IPS, and IFS officers.

Apart from conducting examinations, the chairman has the responsibility of considering cases for direct recruitments through interview, appointments through promotions and deputation, and disciplinary actions against civil servants. 

In addition, the chairman will advise the government if the President refers any personnel matter to the Commission.

However, the members of the Commission undertake most of these functions collaboratively. What makes the role of the chairman more significant is his authority in giving priorities and making representations to the government on behalf of the Commission.

Current UPSC Members (2026)

The Commission currently has seven members alongside the chairman, three short of its full sanctioned strength.

S. No.	Name	Service	Position
1	Preeti Sudan	IAS	Former Chairman, now Member
2	Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla (Retd.)	Indian Army	Member
3	Suman Sharma	IRS	Member
4	Bidyut Bihari Swain	IAS	Member
5	Sanjay Verma	IFS	Member
6	Dinesh Dasa	Academician	Member
7	Sheel Vardhan Singh	IPS	Member

Conclusion: Dr. Ajay Kumar Is the Current UPSC Chairman

2026 will mark the centenary year of the Union Public Service Commission, when it was first headed by Sir Ross Barker as an advisory body. Through the course of time, this organization has grown and developed and become a constitutionally protected body.

Of all the leaders of this organization, the longest-serving one was D.P. Agrawal from 2008 to 2014. With the coming of the centenary year of the Commission under the guidance of Dr. Kumar, plans like the Center of Excellence show the commitment of the organization to enhance the examination process. 

The history of this body shows that long-tenured leaders have helped sustain its reputation.

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