Kathmandu. Ajay Seth, former finance secretary at the Ministry of Finance, has been appointed as the chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India( IRDA).
The Appointments Committee of the Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday decided to appoint 60-year-old former secretary Ajay Seth.
Seth, a 1987-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Karnataka cadre, had compulsorily retired from the finance ministry at the end of June.
The post has been lying vacant since outgoing CHAIRMAN Devashish Panda completed his three-year term as chairman on March 13.
Seth is expected to take charge on Monday, the Asian Insurance Post reported.
Seth holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Karnataka and an MBA from The University of Atentio de Manila, Manila.
He received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2013 for his work in transforming the business tax administration of the state of Karnataka.
Seth is expected to come out with a policy reform growth agenda needed to meet the ambitious government’s goal of insurance for all by 2047.
The government has selected Seth keeping in mind the age limit at which he can serve a long term i.e. re-appoint after the end of the first term.
Experienced and former administrators have been selected in India as it would be harmful to place the leadership of the Insurance Authority on the shoulders of a high-profile person among the bodies responsible for regulating the finance sector.
Sharad Ojha has been suspended, less than four months after he was appointed due to the division of political parties in Nepal. The government inquiry committee is unlikely to give an opinion in his favour as he does not have expertise related to the insurance sector and does not have work experience even at the highest managerial level.
Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel had appointed Radha Kumari Pokharel as an expert member of the NRA. Pokharel has left the board of directors citing her health condition after questions were raised about her eligibility.
