The Ministry of Human Resource Development will have no say in the appointment of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) chief this time around, with the long overdue appointment set to be done through the DoPT’s Central staffing scheme.
This means that a panel of names sent by the HRD Ministry under former Minister Smriti Irani — with the first preference at the top — will no longer count for the appointment. It has been conveyed to the MHRD, sources say, that this is being done only for this year, and only in the case of the CBSE and not other institutions related to the Ministry.
Till now, the names would come from a search-cum-selection committee and the MHRD would then send three names to the DoPT in the order of preference, and the latter would process it pending the final approval of the ACC.
The MHRD’s first choice was Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh, but the recommendation is null and void now.
The CBSE does not have a fulltime chairperson since December 2014.
