2 min readNew DelhiJun 3, 2026 01:16 PM IST
The Centre on Tuesday appointed senior IAS officer Prashant Sitaram Lokhande as the new chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), replacing Rahul Singh, who has been transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare as Additional Secretary. The appointments were approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet amid ongoing scrutiny surrounding CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.
A 2001-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, Lokhande brings a technical and management-focused academic background to one of the country’s largest school education boards. Before entering the civil services, he completed a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Mechanical Engineering from Pune University and later earned a Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering from NITIE Mumbai, which later became IIM Mumbai.
Pune University
Savitribai Phule Pune University, formerly known as the University of Pune, is among India’s prominent public universities. Established in 1949, the university has produced graduates across engineering, science, management, and public administration fields. Its affiliated engineering colleges have long been among the major feeders into India’s civil services and corporate sectors.
NITIE Mumbai (now IIM Mumbai)
Lokhande’s postgraduate qualification is from the Indian Institute of Management, Mumbai. Founded in 1963 as the National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineering (NITIE), the institute was converted into an IIM in 2023.
In the latest NIRF 2025 Management Rankings, IIM Mumbai was placed among the country’s top management institutes. The institute is particularly known for operations, supply chain management, industrial engineering, and manufacturing management programmes.
After completing his studies, Lokhande joined the Indian Administrative Service in 2001 and has since held several senior administrative positions in the AGMUT cadre and the Union government. His appointment comes at a time when CBSE is implementing reforms in examination and evaluation systems, including the recently introduced On-Screen Marking process.