Former Top Cop of Uttar Pradesh Prashant Kumar has been appointed as the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission (UPESC). Prashant Kumar, a 1990 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was retired in May 2025. Although the UP government wanted to retain him as the Police Chief for some more time, the Union Home Ministry did not give its approval. Now, a notification regarding Mr. Kumar’s new appointment , as the Chairman of UPESC, has been issued by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
According to the notification, IPS Prashant Kumar will serve as the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission for a period of three years.
The UP Education Service Selection Commission is responsible for the recruitment of teachers in secondary and higher education in Uttar Pradesh. Since 2022 , teacher recruitment in Uttar Pradesh has been stalled, hence a large number of teacher positions are also vacant. Making teacher recruitment early , transparent and efficient will be the most important and challenging task for Mr. Kumar.
The Uttar Pradesh government had constituted a new commission for teacher recruitment in aided colleges at various levels. On September 5, 2024, Prof. Kirti Pandey of Gorakhpur University was appointed as the first Chairman of the Commission. However, a year later, on September 22, 2025, Prof. Pandey resigned from the UPESC.
Despite a long process, recruitment in the commission could not begin. As a result, candidates are continuously protesting.
