9 Facts about Vinod Rai the new BCCI chief

The Supreme Court of India today appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Vinod Rai as the chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). SC made the decision after a long tussle between the BCCI and Lodha committee appointed by the Apex Court. In a path-breaking decision, the court had earlier also sacked the then BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke. Rai who is an IAS officer and has served various positions in the bureaucratic circles along with responsibilities in state and central government.

He is seen as someone with a no tolerance against corruption and having taken on governments in the past the apex court thought of him as an ideal candidate to take over the administration of the Indian board in a time where there are charges of irregularities and wrongdoings on members and office bearers. Rai will be heading a committee of four members to govern the richest cricketing body in the world. Here are some interesting facts about Vinod Rai the man whose integrity is idolized and widely spoken about.

1. Born:

He was born on May 23, 1948, in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

2. Educational qualification:

Having completed his basic education in Rajasthan Rai completed the master in Economics degree from Delhi University and later pursued Masters in Public Administration at the Harvard University in the United States of America.

3. Career:

He is an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer from 1972 batch. Rai started his career as the sub-collector of Thrissur District in Kerala; he eventually became the collector and served the city in that capacity for eight years.

He served in various capacities in state and central government. He was the Principal Secretary (Finance) in the State Government of Kerala. He also served key positions in the Ministries of Commerce and Defence, Government of India.

He was the Secretary, Financial Services and Additional Secretary in the Banking Division including banks and insurance companies which comes under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India before taking over as CAG.

Apart from the bureaucratic positions he has held the position as a Director on several Boards which includes the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India and Infrastructure Development and Finance Company of India.

4. CAG:

He was the 11th Comptroller and Auditor General of India and held the position for five years from 7 January 2008 to 22 May 2013. During his tenure as the CAG, he unearthed a lot of scams and put out reports against the government corruption. He is famous for his role in unearthing 2G spectrum scam, the Common Wealth games scam and the coal mines allocation scam all of which happened while the UPA was in power.

5. Current roles:

He is the current chairman of UN Panel of External Auditors, a member of the Governing Board of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and an honorary Advisor to the Indian Railways as well as a member of the Railway Kaya Kalp Council.

6. Latest assignment:

The Supreme Court today nominated him as the head of a four-member committee with historian Ramachandra Guha, Vikaram Limaye, and former Indian women’s team skipper Diana Edulji to take care of the administration of the board until formal and constitutional elections are held.

7. Books:

He has written a book titled ‘Not Just an Accountant: The Diary of the Nations Conscience Keeper’. It focuses on the 2G spectrum scam, Krishna-Godavari gas basin (KGD6) contract, Commonwealth Games, 2010 scam, the Coal Allocation scam and the controversial purchase of aircraft most of which happened during the tenure of Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. All the cases are being investigated and are heard by the Supreme Court.

8. Honours:

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 2016.

9. Forbes Person of the Year:

Vinod Rai was the Person of the Year in Forbes magazine’s January 2011 edition.