Meet Preeti Sudan: Former Union Health Secretary, appointed as UPSC chairperson
Meet Preeti Sudan: Former Union Health Secretary, appointed as UPSC chairperson
Preeti Sudan takes over as the new UPSC chairperson, bringing decades of administrative experience.
Former Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Preeti Sudan, who is a member of the UPSC, will take charge of the position on Thursday, August 1.
Preeti Sudan will replace Manoj Soni, who resigned earlier this month due to ‘personal reasons’ ahead of the end of his tenure. Preeti Sudan is an IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, 1983 batch. She has nearly 37 years of experience in almost all spheres of government administration.
Sudan holds degrees in Economics and Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics and has been trained in public finance management in Washington. She worked as the union health secretary for three years until July 2020 and was a key strategist during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to this, Sudan was the secretary of the Department of Food and Public Distribution. She has also served in the ministries of Women and Child Development, Defence and has handled finance and planning, disaster management, tourism, and agriculture. Previously, she was a consultant with the World Bank.
Sudan has served as the Chair of COP-8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Vice Chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Chair of the Global Digital Health Partnership. She is also been a member of WHO’s Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
She has made several notable contributions to various national-level programs such as the initiation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ayushman Bharat, the ban on E-cigarettes, and legislation on the National Medical Commission, among others.
