The first Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, 62-year-old Arvind Panagariya, made a rather low-key entry to the newly constituted body on Tuesday.
Getting straight down to business, Panagariya politely declined to oblige waiting media persons. He started his day with a meeting with officials led by Chief Executive Officer Sindhushree Khullar.
NITI Aayog, which replaces the Planning Commission, came into existence on January 1. Though the Government wants the new organisation to be different from the old body, it is yet to notify changes to ‘Allocation of Business Rules’, which will present a clear picture on NITI Aayog’s functioning. After the briefing, Panagariya was taken on a tour of the building that houses the NITI Aayog. He met advisors and other senior officials. Panagariya is an Indian-American economist, who has held the post of Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank and been Professor of Economics and Co-director, Centre for International Economics, University of Maryland at College Park.
He has also worked for the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, and UNCTAD in various capacities. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Princeton University.
Panagariya is followed on Twitter by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also Chairman of NITI Aayog.