Vinod Paul, 65
Member, NITI Aayog
As member of NITI Aayog, the former head of paediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, is the government’s go-to man for health policy. Having played a pivotal role in formulating POSHAN Abhiyaan, Ayushman Bharat, the new medical education architecture (he was chairman of the Board of Governors of Medical Council of India), he was also instrumental in how the government handled the Covid-19 crisis.
The low key doctor is well connected with the medical fraternity and also manages to negotiate the tricky politics of health, given the formulation of policy by the Centre and its implementation by the state. The doctor is now responsible for the rollout of the vaccine, with the government planning to administer 30 crore people in the first phase of the deployment.