NEW DELHI: Within a week of the NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya putting in his papers, the Centre on Saturday appointed economist Rajeev Kumar as his successor.
The government also appointed AIIMS pediatrician Vinod Paul as Member of the think tank panel.
Express reported on July 15 how the government is seeking to effect changes in the leadership of the NITI Aayog. Panagariya quit the post to return to the academic world early this week.
The think tank panel was constituted with the mandate to have four members besides vice-chairman and chief executive officer. With the induction of Paul, the think tank panel has got the full strength, besides an expert on health.
Kumar holds a DPhil in economics from Oxford and a Ph.D. from Lucknow University. He’s also a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
He had also been with FICCI, having served as director.
He was also the chief executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
Besides, Kumar had been a member of the National Security Advisory Board between 2006 and 2008.
The new vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog has also served as the chief economist of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and held senior positions in the Asian Development Bank.