Niti Aayog Reconstituted; No Change in Vice Chairman and Full-Time Members, Ministers from Allied Parties Included
Economist Suman K. Bery will remain the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, and scientist V.K. Saraswat, agricultural economist Prof. Ramesh Chand, pediatrician V.K. Paul, and macro-economist Arvind Virmani will also remain full-time members.
The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi reconstituted the Niti Aayog on Tuesday. Economist Suman K. Bery will remain the Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog, and scientist V.K. Saraswat, agricultural economist Prof. Ramesh Chand, pediatrician Dr. V.K. Paul, and macro-economist Arvind Virmani will also remain full-time members. Niti Aayog will include 15 Union ministers, including members from the BJP and its allies, as ex-officio or special invitees.
According to an official notification, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to serve as the chairman of Niti Aayog. The four ex-officio members will be Union Ministers Rajnath Singh (Defense), Amit Shah (Home), Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Agriculture), and Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance).
The notification stated that the Prime Minister has approved the revised structure of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog). The reconstituted NITI Aayog will have special invitees including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways), Jagat Prakash Nadda (Health), H.D. Kumaraswamy (Heavy Industries and Steel), Jitan Ram Manjhi (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), and Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy). Other special invitees are Union ministers Virendra Kumar (Social Justice and Empowerment), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Civil Aviation), Jual Oram (Tribal Affairs), Annapurna Devi (Women and Child Development), Chirag Paswan (Food Processing Industries), and Rao Indrajit Singh (Statistics and Programme Implementation). Kumaraswamy is from NDA ally JD-S, Manjhi is from Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rajiv Ranjan Singh is from JD-U, Naidu is from TDP, and Paswan is from Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
NITI Aayog was formed in 2015 by the Modi government, replacing the 65-year-old Planning Commission. The government has reorganized the NITI Aayog following the formation of new government after Lok Sabha election and new Council of Ministers.
