B B Vyas takes oath as UPSC member

New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Bharat Bhushan Vyas took oath of office as member the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Thursday, a Government statement said.
Vyas, a 1986-batch Jammu and Kashmir cadre officer, was administered oath of office and secrecy by Chairman UPSC Arvind Saxena.
A graduate in Botany, 61-year-old Vyas served in state and Centre in various capacities and retired as the chief secretary, Jammu and Kashmir. Before assuming charge as member, UPSC, he was serving as adviser to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor.
Vyas is the first officer of J&K cadre who is being appointed as member of the UPSC, the constitutional body entrusted with appointments to and examinations for all-India services and group-A and group-B of central services.
The resignation of Vyas as advisor marks the culmination of his 32-year-old long services in Jammu and Kashmir, where he held the topmost bureaucratic position of the chief secretary.
An IAS officer of 1986 batch, Vyas has held key and challenging assignments at different levels before being appointed as chief secretary of the state by the previous Peoples Democratic Party-led government in 2017.
He was appointed as advisor to governor in June this year when the state came under governor’s rule following withdrawal of support by Bharatiya Janata Party to Mehbooba Mufti-led government.
Vyas was believed to be the personal choice of then governor NN Vohra for the position of advisor. He was one of the few bureaucrats who had friends across the political spectrum in the state.
He has served as principal secretary to three chief ministers of J&K, including Omar Abdullah, late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti.
Before being appointed as CS, he held positions of deputy commissioner Srinagar, divisional commissioner Kashmir, principal secretary finance and financial commissioner, planning. He also served as private secretary to Yashwant Sinha, then union finance minister.