 "Nasim Zaidi to be next chief election commissioner")
The President on Thursday appointed Election Commissioner (EC) Syed Nasim Ahmed Zaidi as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. Zaidi, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1976 batch, Uttar Pradesh cadre, will succeed Hari Shankar Brahma on April 19.
Zaidi has served as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was the district magistrate of Ghaziabad at the time of the massacre of 42 Muslims, from neighbouring Meerut district, by personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in May 1987, commonly known as the Hashimpura massacre. Last month, nearly three decades after the incident, a Delhi court allowed the 16 policemen accused to walk free for lack of evidence.
Vibhuti Narain Rai, then Superintendent of Police of Ghaziabad, recently wrote how the persistence of Ghaziabad police and district administration to lodge a first information report against the PAC men brought the incident to national limelight, unlike a similar incident where PAC men gunned down Muslims in Meerut’s Maliana locality a day later. In a blogpost, Rai states he, along with senior district officials including Zaidi, had found the bodies dumped in a canal on the Delhi-Ghaziabad border. They also found the lone survivor who helped the Ghaziabad police piece together the details of the horrific massacre.
Zaidi was closely associated with the reforms in the aviation sector. He was India’s permanent representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization from 2005 to 2008, the DGCA after that and retired in July 2012 as secretary, civil aviation. He was appointed Election Commissioner in August 2012.
Zaidi will assume charge on April 19, and serve until July 2017 when he turns 65. An EC or a CEC has a tenure of six years in office or 65 years of age, whichever is earlier.
Zaidi holds a doctorate in biochemistry. He also has a Master’s degree in public administration from Kennedy School of Government and a post graduate diploma in business finance.
According to his profile on the EC website, Zaidi was instrumental in formulating the financial restructuring and turnaround of Air India and also in setting up the Dharmadhikari Committee to ensure merger process of the national carrier. The profile also claims that Zaidi was active in setting up two new airports in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. He was also briefly the chairman of the Airports Authority of India.
Zaidi has served as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was the district magistrate of Ghaziabad at the time of the massacre of 42 Muslims, from neighbouring Meerut district, by personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in May 1987, commonly known as the Hashimpura massacre. Last month, nearly three decades after the incident, a Delhi court allowed the 16 policemen accused to walk free for lack of evidence.
Vibhuti Narain Rai, then Superintendent of Police of Ghaziabad, recently wrote how the persistence of Ghaziabad police and district administration to lodge a first information report against the PAC men brought the incident to national limelight, unlike a similar incident where PAC men gunned down Muslims in Meerut’s Maliana locality a day later. In a blogpost, Rai states he, along with senior district officials including Zaidi, had found the bodies dumped in a canal on the Delhi-Ghaziabad border. They also found the lone survivor who helped the Ghaziabad police piece together the details of the horrific massacre.
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In his long bureaucratic career, Zaidi has served as the assistant collector of Unnao, district magistrate of Farrukhabad from 1982 to 1985 and of Ghaziabad from 1985 to 1988. He was Commissioner, Bareilly Development Authority in 1996-97 and joint secretary in the civil aviation from 2003 to 2005.
Zaidi was closely associated with the reforms in the aviation sector. He was India’s permanent representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization from 2005 to 2008, the DGCA after that and retired in July 2012 as secretary, civil aviation. He was appointed Election Commissioner in August 2012.
Zaidi will assume charge on April 19, and serve until July 2017 when he turns 65. An EC or a CEC has a tenure of six years in office or 65 years of age, whichever is earlier.
Zaidi holds a doctorate in biochemistry. He also has a Master’s degree in public administration from Kennedy School of Government and a post graduate diploma in business finance.
According to his profile on the EC website, Zaidi was instrumental in formulating the financial restructuring and turnaround of Air India and also in setting up the Dharmadhikari Committee to ensure merger process of the national carrier. The profile also claims that Zaidi was active in setting up two new airports in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. He was also briefly the chairman of the Airports Authority of India.