The Maharashtra government has appointed IAS officer Saurabh Katiyar as the Secretary of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) amid heightened scrutiny of the commission following allegations of examination irregularities. Katiyar, who currently serves as the Mumbai Suburban Collector, was handed the additional charge on Wednesday until further orders, according to government directives issued for administrative reasons.
This transition follows a period of significant unrest, during which aspirants staged an 11-day protest in Pune. The demonstrators had demanded accountability regarding an alleged paper leak and sought the resignation of the commission’s chairman, Vivek Bhimanwar. Reports indicate that Bhimanwar has since been sent on compulsory leave pending an official inquiry. Furthermore, the former MPSC secretary, Mahendra Harpalkar, was transferred as part of the state's response to the allegations. To address the concerns raised, the state government has announced a formal judicial inquiry and established a committee led by Justice Dilip Bhosale to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged paper leaks.
Saurabh Katiyar is a 2016-batch Maharashtra cadre IAS officer who assumed the role of Mumbai Suburban Collector in May 2025. Hailing from the Kanpur Dehat district in Uttar Pradesh, Katiyar is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, holding both BTech and MTech degrees. Prior to his current administrative post, he worked in the private sector at Qualcomm in Bengaluru and served as the Collector of Amravati. He has also held the position of Chief Executive Officer at the Akola Zilla Parishad.
During his tenure as the Amravati Collector, Katiyar gained recognition for launching 'Mission 28' in 2022. This health initiative was designed to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates in the tribal region of Melghat by focusing on the critical 56-day period surrounding childbirth. By strengthening monitoring for high-risk pregnancies and enhancing access to care through frontline health workers, the programme reportedly reduced the infant mortality rate from 36 to 19.98 and the maternal mortality rate from 93 to 28.92.
More recently, as Mumbai Suburban Collector, Katiyar led the implementation of India's first AI-powered skill census. The results, released in August 2026, showcased the use of the ARC performance management platform for door-to-door enumeration. This project subsequently became a case study at Northwestern University and other international academic institutions. Katiyar has also been involved in high-profile land administration duties in Mumbai, where he was tasked with overseeing extensive anti-encroachment drives.
His record in land administration, however, has not been without challenges. Earlier this year, the Mumbai Suburban Collectorate faced judicial criticism regarding delays in removing encroachments near a natural pond in Charkop, Kandivali (West). While the court initially warned that it might recommend the Collector’s transfer if action was not taken, it later noted improvements at the site, though it maintained that further remediation was required. Conversely, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule praised Katiyar and Mumbai City Collector Aanchal Goyal in the Legislative Assembly for their roles in reclaiming prime government land, which he noted was valued at approximately ₹50,000 crore.
As he steps into the MPSC Secretary role, Katiyar inherits a commission currently under immense public and legal pressure. With a judicial inquiry now underway, the state government appears focused on restoring administrative stability within the organisation. Observers will be looking to see how the new secretary navigates the ongoing fallout from the examination row and manages the restoration of trust among the thousands of aspirants awaiting resolution.
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