The Government on Monday appointed well-known Indian-American economist Arvind Panagariya as the vice-chairman of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. Another economist Bibek Debroy and scientist Dr VK Saraswat have been appointed as the full-time members of the restructured Planning Commission. Saraswat was the Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation and chief scientific advisor to former Defence Minister AK Antony.
Union Ministers Rajnath Singh (Home), Arun Jaitley (Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information Broadcasting), Suresh Prabhu (Railways), and Radha Mohan Singh (Agriculture) are the ex-officio members of the Aayog. Three more Union Ministers — Nitin Gadkari (Shipping, Road Transport and Highways), Thawar Chand Gehlot (Social Justice and Empowerment) and Smriti Zubin Irani (Human Resource Develo-pment) — have been named as special invitees. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the NITI Aayog.
However, the Aayog is yet to get more members. There will be two part-time members from leading universities or research organisations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity. While there will be a Chief Executive Officer in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India having a fixed tenure.
The Governing Council of NITI Aayog will include all the Chief Ministers and lt Governors of States and Union Territories. Regional Councils will be formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one State or a region. These will be formed for a specified tenure. The Regional Councils will be convened by the Prime Minister and will comprise of the Chief Ministers of States and lt Governors of Union Territories in the region.
NITI Aayog will serve as a think tank of the Government and will provide the Governments at the Centre and in States with strategic and technical advice on key policy matters, including economic issues of national and international importance. The NITI Aayog will also provide a national agenda for the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers, and interact with other national and international think tanks.