The government has reconstituted the NITI Aayog, increasing the representation of BJP and NDA allies in the ‘Special Invitees’ category in the government think tank.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet Secretariat issued a notification, stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the revised composition of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog).
While the Prime Minister remains the chairperson and economist Suman K Bery the vice-chairperson of the NITI Aayog, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has found a place among the four ex-officio members by virtue of being the Agriculture Minister. The other three remain the same -- Defence Minster Rajnath Singh (Defence), Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Similarly, scientist V K Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, paediatrician V K Paul and macro-economist Arvind Virmani too will continue to be full-time members of the Niti Aayog.
However, of the eleven Special Invitees, six Union Ministers are from the NDA partners. They include Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Jitan Ram Manjhi, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Civil Aviation Minister KR Naidu, Women and Child Development Minister Annpurna Devi, and Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan.
While Kumaraswamy is from JD-S, a regional party of Karnataka, the remaining three leaders belong to the Bihar-based parties -- Manjhi is from Hindustan Awam Morcha-S, Rajiv Ranjan Singh is from JD-U and Chirag Paswan LJP-Ram Vilas.
The rest Special Invitees are from the BJP. Union minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has been retained, while BJP president and Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda has been inducted into the group.
The others are Dr Virendra Kumar, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Jual Oram, Minister of Tribal Affairs, and Rao lnderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture.