Retired Punjab cadre IAS officer Arun Goel on Monday assumed the office of Election Commissioner (EC), two days after President Droupadi Murmu appointed him to the post.
Goel was secretary, Union Ministry of Heavy Industries, till he took voluntary retirement on November 18, a day before being appointed as EC. In a statement on Monday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said Goel had “catalyzed e-vehicle movement in India to a tipping point” as heavy industries secretary. Prior to that, he had served as secretary in the Union Ministry of Culture, vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority and in various capacities in the Union finance, urban development and labour & employment ministries.
The ECI said Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, who is in Nepal as an international observer for the ongoing elections there, called Goel to congratulate him on the appointment. The CEC welcomed Goel to the ECI and said the commission’s efforts to make elections more inclusive would be strengthened by Goel’s “vast and diverse administrative experience”.
The post of Election Commissioner in the three-member Election Commission of India had been vacant since May when Kumar was elevated from the post of Election Commissioner to CEC upon the retirement of Sushil Chandra.