More than 11 months after the post fell vacant, the Central government on Friday decided to appoint Debasish Panda, former Secretary, Department of Financial Services, as the Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Panda as IRDAI chief, initially for a period of three years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Subhash C. Khuntia retired as IRDAI chief in early May 2021 and the government didn't fill up the post after that.

It was then said the post was kept vacant to accommodate Panda who retired in January 2022.

"The IRDAI Chairman's post has been vacant since May. It is also not known whether the government is waiting for some bureaucrat to retire so that he/she can be accommodated in IRDAI," an industry official, who did not want to be named, told IANS in October last year.

Setting the house in order, working towards its core mission of policyholder's interest, speeding up the new company licensing process, and avoiding micromanagement are some of the important tasks for IRDAI's incoming Chairman, as per a cross section of of industry officials.

They also said simplification of its regulations, and levelling the playing field are some of the other areas that he should focus on to make IRDAI a vibrant regulatory body.