Days after rejig, NITI Aayog gets two new full-time members
Hey there, future lawyers! Let's talk about something important for your CLAT prep. So, basically, the NITI Aayog, which is India's top government think tank, just got two new full-time members, Dr R Balasubramaniam and Dr Joram Aniya. This brings their total full-time members to seven, following a big reshuffle. What this really means is, the NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission in 2015, continues to evolve. Its role in cooperative federalism and policy formulation, like for the SDG India Index, is key. Dr Aniya’s appointment, as a woman from the Nyishi community, highlights representation and links to principles under Article 14 of the Constitution. Bottom line for the exam, understand NITI Aayog's structure and its role in governance, especially its non-constitutional nature.
Days after reconstituting the NITI Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday approved the appointment of Dr R Balasubramaniam and Dr Joram Aniya as full-time members of the think tank.
With the two new additions, the total number of full-time members of NITI Aayog will now rise to seven.
While Balasubramaniam has served as a member of Capacity Building Commission and authored the book, ‘Power Within: The Leadership Legacy of Narendra Modi’; Aniya is an academician and member of the Arunachal Pradesh Private Educational Regulatory Commission, with over 18 years of experience in teaching, research and public policy engagement.
Calling Aniya’s appointment “historic”, an official of the NITI Aayog said she is the first woman from the Nyishi community to earn a PhD, and also the first doctorate in Hindi language in Arunachal Pradesh. She has also authored and edited many books on Nyishi literature and culture, along with numerous research publications.
On April 24, the government appointed a new vice-chairman and replaced four of the five full-time members of the premier policy think tank. Eminent economist Ashok Lahiri has replaced vice-chairman Suman Berry, who was serving in the post since April 2022. The other new members include Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, and Dr M Srinivas, director, AIIMSDelhi, a government notification said.
This is the first major revamp of the NITI Aayog since its inception in 2015, when it had replaced the Nehruvian Planning Commission.