Tamboli Ayyaj Fakirbhai, IAS, executive director, IRDAI
Fakirbhai’s appointment is expected to further strengthen the regulator’s executive structure as it undertakes a major overhaul of insurance regulations to push higher FDI, larger number of players and achieving Insurance for all by 2047.
New Delhi:At a time when the Ajay Seth-led Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is implementing the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025 in full swing and seeks to reshape the industry’s operating framework, starting with sweeping reforms in distribution and health insurance segments, the government has appointed senior IAS officer Tamboli Ayyaj Fakirbhai as an executive director(ED) of the regulator for five years.
A 2009-batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, Fakirbhai, a trained medical doctor, is currently serving as a director in the powerful Cabinet Secretariat. He is a joint secretary-level officer in the Central Government.
The appointment is significant as it marks the return of an IAS officer to the executive director’s post at the Hyderabad-based insurance regulator after nearly a decade.
Sriram Taranikanti was the last IAS officer to serve as an executive director at IRDAI, holding the position from 2011 to 2016.
IRDAI currently has four executive director-level positions, with the officers serving as senior administrative heads of different departments.
Fakirbhai’s appointment is expected to further strengthen the regulator’s executive structure as it undertakes a major overhaul of insurance regulations to push higher FDI, larger number of players and achieving Insurance for all by 2047.
Chairman Seth,who has stirred up the insurance industry with his sweeping two-part consultation paper titled “Recalibrating Economics of Insurance Distribution” on September 23, 2026, aimed at restructuring the insurance sales ecosystem, lowering consumer costs, and curbing mis-selling, has more such agenda for the larger insurance industry
In separate appointments, the government has named IAS officer Varnali Deka as joint secretary at the National Health Authority (NHA) for five years.
The NHA oversees the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the government’s flagship health insurance scheme.
IAS officer Ashish Madhaorao has also been appointed additional chief executive officer of the NHA for a five-year term.