NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reconstituted the National Institution of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and inducted cabinet ministers in it on Thursday. Rajiv Kumar will continue as Vice Chairman along with full-time members VK Saraswat, Ramesh Chand and VK Paul. A notable exclusion is economist Bibek Debroy.
Home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajanth Singh, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar will be ex-officio members. This will apparently help the panel forge better ties with state and centre.
Transport minister Nitin Gadkari, commerce and industry and railway minister Piyush Goyal, social justice minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, and statistics minister Rao Inderjit Singh will be special invitees to the panel.
The council, the top body of NITI Aayog, includes chief ministers of all states, lieutenant governors of union territories, several union ministers and senior government officials. PM Modi will chair the fifth meeting of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council on June 15 to discuss a raft of issues.