NEW DELHI: Senior technocrat Shashi Shekar Vempati has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati.

The selection of Vempati, who has served as part-time member of Prasar Bharati, was made by the three-member Committee comprising Vice-President Hamid Ansari, the Chairman of the Press Council of India Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad, and Information and Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Ajay Mittal who served as the nominee for the President.

The appointment is for a period of five years from the time Vempati assumes charge of his office.

As part time member, Vempati served as Chairman of the Audit Committee, member of Finance and Accounts Committee, Technology Committee and Sports Rights Committee, apart from HR Committee.

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, Vempati has over two decades of experience as a technocrat with specialization in Corporate Management, Technology Consulting and Digital Media.

He also served for about a decade with Infosys as Product Strategist and Digital Innovator in North America. He has two patents in his name: “Real time Business Event Monitoring, Tracking and Execution Architecture” and “System and method of monitoring and management of inventory of products and assets in real time”.

He has authored many books including ‘Broadcasting Technologies in India’, ‘National Digital Security Architecture in India’ and ‘Creating a Global Media Platform out of India.”

Earlier in February this year, Prasar Bharati Chairman Surya Prakash wrote to the Government to expedite the selections for a new CEO and Member (Personnel) in the pubcaster.

A high-level committee headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari has to meet to select a new CEO and other members.

The last incumbent Jawhar Sircar resigned with effect from 4 November 2016. Since then, two different officials - Member (Finance) Rajeev Singh and before him then Member Personnel Suresh C Panda (since retired) held interim charge of the post.

Sircar left just a few months before his term was to expire in February this year.