Former Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth assumed office as Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board today. The appointment, is in fact, considered to be a demotion for Seth. Apparently, Ajit Seth applied for the job after reading an advertisement in a daily newspaper. Insiders say that never has a retired Cabinet Secretary accepted a position which is equivalent to the stature of a retired Secretary to Government of India.

Retiring Chairman Atul Chaturvedi, like Seth, is also from the 1974 IAS batch. Seth will hold office till August 2016 which is when he turns 65. 


Interestingly, the other members are a retiring secretary Gauri Kumar,  former chairman of NALCO -- Anshuman Das, apart from R Gopalan and Acharya.