In his long career as a bureaucrat, he ushered in vital reforms in critical sectors like power and petrochemicals and now hopes to take forward the legacy of electoral reforms he inherited from his predecessor SY Quaraishi.
A 1973 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre, Sampath will preside over the all important Lok Sabha elections in 2014 as he is expected to remain at the helm of affairs in the Election Commission till 2015 when he would turn 65.
Under the Constitution, an EC or the CEC can remain in the saddle either for a six-year term or till 65 years, whichever is earlier. Sampath, born on January 16, 1950, will remain CEC until January 2015.
A low profile and unassuming officer, Sampath, who is the 18th Chief Election Commissioner, has a long association with administrative reforms in the sectors he served first in Andhra Pradesh as a budding bureaucrat and later at the Centre.
Though his last assignment was as Power Secretary at the Centre, Sampath began his service from Andhra Pradesh serving first as District Collector from 1975 to 1986 and later as head of important financial institutions.
The CEC himself said his stint as the DC gave him a strong grounding in public administration and policy implementation at the grassroots level.
Between 1989 and 1989, he held important posts as Managing Director in Apex Co-operative Bank, Handloom Marketing Society and Oil Seeds Federation in Food and Public Distribution Department, Industries Department and Finance Department. (MORE)