NITI Aayog Reconstituted: Modi Government Announces New Members

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government has restructured the NITI Aayog, appointing four full-time members and 15 union ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains chairperson, with Suman K Bery as vice-chairperson. The reconstitution follows changes in the council of ministers, aiming for transformative initiatives in India.

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government on Tuesday reconstituted the NITI Aayog, bringing in four full-time members and 15 union ministers, including BJP allies, as either ex-officio members or special invitees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue as the chairperson, while economist Suman K Bery remains the vice-chairperson of NITI Aayog, according to an official notification.

Scientist V K Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, paediatrician V K Paul, and macro-economist Arvind Virmani will continue as full-time members of the government think-tank.

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh (Defence), Amit Shah (Home), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Agriculture), and Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance) are among the four ex-officio members.

The prime minister has approved the revised composition of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), the notification said.

Special invitees include 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 Lalan Singh (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying).

Other special invitees are Union Ministers Virendra Kumar (Social Justice and Empowerment), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Civil Aviation), Jual Oram (Tribal Affairs), Annpurna Devi (Women and Child Development), Chirag Paswan (Food Processing Industries), and Rao Inderjit Singh (Statistics and Programme Implementation).

National Institution for Transforming India, better known as 'NITI Aayog', was established in 2015 after the Modi government replaced the 65-year-old Planning Commission.

''Embracing a vision for holistic development and innovation, NITI Aayog is on a journey of transformative initiatives that promise to redefine India's future,'' stated the Aayog in a Facebook post.

The reconstitution follows changes in the council of ministers.

(With inputs from agencies.)