The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of former DFS Secretary Debasish Panda, a retired IAS officer, as the Chairperson of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), which is the insurance regulator.
He has been initially appointed for a period of three years, an official sources said.
Panda had demitted office as the Secretary of Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Finance Ministry on January 31 this year after a two-year stint.
Panda’s appointment as IRDAI Chairperson came ten months after the post became vacant on May last year. The Centre had issued a notification inviting applications for the new Chairman on April 30, 2021,
The IRDAI is a 10-member body with a Chairman, five Whole-time members and four part-time members.
About 30 candidates, including a dozen bureaucrats, two serving Members of the Authority and a couple of CEOs of private insurance companies had reportedly applied for the IRDAI Chief’s post.