Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Chairperson Dr. Manoj Soni has stepped down from his position, five years before his term was set to end in 2029, citing “personal reasons.” The 59-year-old, an alumnus of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, confirmed his resignation to The Indian Express on Saturday.
This resignation coincides with the commission filing a criminal case against probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar for identity fraud to misuse civil services examination attempts. However, PTI sources clarified that Soni’s resignation is “not in any way connected to controversies and allegations surrounding the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) after the probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar issue came to the fore.”
Close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Soni joined the Commission on June 28, 2017, and took the oath as chairperson on May 16, 2023. He is also actively involved with Anoopam Mission, a nonprofit organization from the Swaminarayan sect, and is likely to engage more with the organization, especially in its U.S. centers.
Soni served as vice-chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Gujarat, for two terms from August 1, 2009, to July 31, 2015, and as VC of his alma mater, The Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) of Baroda, from April 2005 to April 2008. At 40, he became the youngest Vice-Chancellor in India when he joined MSU.
In 2009, Soni was part of the governing body of Charotar University of Sciences and Technology Changa and a founder coordinator of the Center for Excellence in Ethics in Politics and Public Administration, funded by the Gujarat government. In 2008, he was a member of the Justice R. J. Shah (Retd.) Fee Regulatory Committee, formed by the Gujarat legislature to regulate fees in unaided professional institutions in the state.
A Political Science student specializing in International Relations, Soni taught International Relations at Sardar Patel University (SPU), Vallabh Vidyanagar, from 1991 to 2016. His doctoral research, completed in 1995, focused on the “Post-Cold War International Systemic Transition and Indo-U.S. Relations.” The work was later published as “Understanding the Global Political Earthquake.”
In 2013, Soni received the rare honor of “Honorary Mayor-President of the City of Baton Rouge” for his “exemplary leadership in empowering disadvantaged sections of society with IT literacy.” In 2015, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London, honored him with the World Education Congress Global Award for Distance Learning Leadership. Dr. Soni has also served on the Boards of Governors of various institutions of higher education and public administration.
