Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejected former Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's choice of chairman for the Central Board of Secondary Education, reported The Indian Express. “While considering the proposal, the competent authority in the ACC has conveyed that the post be filled under Central Staffing Scheme by keeping the recruitment rules in abeyance,” a letter sent from the Department of Personnel & Training to the ministry read. This indicated that the process of selecting the CBSE chief has been taken out of the ministry's domain.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet rejected Dr Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh's name as the next CBSE chief. Modi takes the final decision on the committee, which rejected the search-and-selection panel's recommendation. It asked the ministry to wrap up the selection process in the next two months. The panel has been told to submit its recommendations by October 31.

This is the second time that Irani's selection for the post has been rejected. The post has been vacant since December 2014. HRD Joint Secretary YSK Seshu Kumar is handling the post as an additional charge since August 2015. He got an extension of six months recently. Irani lost her HRD portfolio to Prakash Javadekar in the recent Cabinet reshuffle on July 5. She now holds charge of the Textile Ministry.