A week after she lost HRD Ministry, Smriti Irani's choice for CBSE chief is rejected by PM Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejected former Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's choice for the chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Reports said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which is led by the Prime Minister, has returned the proposal of the HRD Ministry nominating Dr Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh for the post of CBSE chief.

The development came just a week after Irani was moved out of the HRD Ministry.

In fact, as per reports, the ACC has decided the ministry would have no role in future in such appointments.

“While considering the proposal, the competent authority in the ACC has conveyed that the post be filled under Central Staffing Scheme (CSS) by keeping the recruitment rules in abeyance,” the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) stated in a letter sent to the HRD Ministry on Tuesday.

The CBSE has not had a regular full-time chairman since December 2014.

In a letter sent to the DoPT on June 15, the HRD Ministry had suggested three names for the post zeroed-in after a search-cum-selection process. And Singh was Irani’s first choice among the three.

Singh, who is from the Uttar Pradesh Education Service, is presently the director of the State Council of Educational Research & Training.

The other two names in the list were Kamalakanta Biswal, professor at the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, and Khurram Shahzad Noor, additional principal director in the education wing of the Indian Navy.

In fact, the ACC had in August last year also rejected Irani’s choice for the CBSE chief. Then, the ACC had rejected the choice of Satbir Bedi on the ground that she did not meet the minimum qualification requirement.