Friday, March 25 2005 12:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Expenditure Secretary D Swarup has been appointed Chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), official sources said last night (Mar 24, 2005).

Swarup, an Indian Audit and Accounts Service Officer who has been a key bureaucrat in preparing the Union Budget for the last 12 years, was due to retire on March 31 after a three-month extension given for budget preparation this year.

Swarup will have a five-year tenure as PFRDA Chairman, the sources said, adding he will take up his new assignment on April 1.

Swarup's appointment comes a day after the Government referred the PFRDA Bill to Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday (Mar 21, 2005) to replace an Ordinance issued in this regard on December 29, 2004.

Other members of PFRDA would be named in due course, the sources said.