President appoints Om Prakash Rawat as Election Commissioner

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed former IAS officer Om Prakash Rawat as an Election Commissioner (EC) in the Election Commission of India (ECI).
He will have tenure of more than three years which will end in December, 2018 i.e. till he attains the age of 65 years.

About Om Prakash Rawat

• Rawat was born on 2 December 1953 and is a 1977 batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre.
• During his long bureaucratic career, he had served at various important portfolios at Centre and state level.
• In 1993, he had served as a Director in the Defence Ministry. He has also served as Principal Secretary to then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh to Babu Lal Gaur from 2004 and 2006.
• He also had served as Secretary at Department of Public Enterprises in the Ministry of Heavy Industries from 2012 till December 2014 when he retired.

With Rawat’s appointment, the sole vacancy in the three-member ECI has been filled. Other two members are Nasim Zaidi (Chief Election Commissioner) and A K Joti (EC).

About Election Commissioner (EC)

• As per the provisions of Article 324 of Constitution, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) are appointed by the President.
• Tenure: They hold office for the term of 6 years or until they attain age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• Election Commission being multi-member constitutional body, the strength of ECs is decided by President of India.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2015