NITI Aayog reconstituted; 15 Union Ministers including from NDA allies made part of it

Narendra Modi-led NDA Government Reconstitutes NITI Aayog with New Members

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led NDA government has reconstituted the NITI Aayog, appointing four full-time members and 15 union ministers, including members from BJP allies, as either ex-officio members or special invitees.

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

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

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

The Prime Minister has approved the revised composition of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), the notification stated.

The special invitees in the reconstituted NITI Aayog 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, also known as 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).

Kumaraswamy belongs to NDA partner 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).

The National Institution for Transforming India, better known as NITI Aayog, was constituted in 2015 when the Modi government chose to replace 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," the Aayog said in a Facebook post.

The government has reconstituted the NITI Aayog following changes in the council of ministers.