AIIMS Delhi director, DST Secretary appointed members of NITI Aayog

The Government reconstituted NITI Aayog in April 2026, appointing Ashok Kumar Lahiri as Vice-Chairman, replacing Suman Bery. Dr. M. Srinivas, Director of AII...

What Happened

The Government reconstituted NITI Aayog in April 2026, appointing Ashok Kumar Lahiri as Vice-Chairman, replacing Suman Bery.
Dr. M. Srinivas, Director of AIIMS Delhi, was appointed as a full-time member of NITI Aayog.
Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), was appointed as a full-time member.
Other new full-time members include molecular scientist Gobardhan Das and K. V. Raju (previously a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM).
All full-time members except former Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba were changed in this reconstitution; the Prime Minister remains the ex-officio Chairperson.

Static Topic Bridges

NITI Aayog: Structure and Mandate

NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was established on 1 January 2015 through a Cabinet resolution, replacing the Planning Commission (which had functioned since 15 March 1950). Unlike the Planning Commission, NITI Aayog is purely an advisory body — it has no financial power to allocate funds to states or ministries. It follows a bottom-up, cooperative federalism model, with all state Chief Ministers, the LGs/Administrators of Union Territories, and the Lt. Governor of J&K serving on its Governing Council.

Established: 1 January 2015 (by executive resolution, no constitutional/statutory basis)
Planning Commission dissolved: 17 August 2014
Chairman: Prime Minister (ex-officio)
Vice-Chairman: Appointed by the PM; handles day-to-day affairs
Full-time Members: Domain experts appointed by the PM
Special Invitees: Union Ministers designated by the PM
CEO: Appointed by the PM; rank of Secretary to the Government of India
Two key bodies: Governing Council (all CMs + LGs) and Regional Councils (for specific issues)

Connection to this news: The appointment of AIIMS Delhi's director and DST Secretary as full-time members signals a fresh emphasis on health policy and science & technology in NITI Aayog's advisory agenda.

NITI Aayog vs. Planning Commission: Key Differences

The Planning Commission was a top-down central planning body with the power to allocate budgetary resources to states, prepare Five-Year Plans, and act as the de facto controller of public investment. NITI Aayog, by contrast, serves as a policy think-tank fostering cooperative federalism, producing long-term vision documents (e.g., Vision 2030), and offering sector-specific strategic recommendations without budgetary authority.

Planning Commission: Resource allocator, Five-Year Plans, top-down model
NITI Aayog: Advisory/think-tank, no fund allocation, bottom-up cooperative model
Finance Commission vs. NITI Aayog: Finance Commission (constitutional body under Article 280) allocates fiscal transfers to states; NITI Aayog has no such constitutional role
NITI Aayog initiatives: Aspirational Districts Programme, SDG India Index, 100-day agenda for new governments

Connection to this news: Each reconstitution reshapes NITI Aayog's substantive priorities; this one brings in health and science domains directly at the full-member level.

Ashok Kumar Lahiri: Profile and Role of Vice-Chairman

The Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog is the de facto head for day-to-day functioning. Ashok Kumar Lahiri is a distinguished economist who previously served as Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the Government of India. He has also worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

CEA is the head of the Economic Division, Ministry of Finance — principal economic advisor to the Union government
NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman holds Cabinet Minister rank
Predecessor: Suman Bery (2022–2026); before him, Rajiv Kumar (2017–2022); Arvind Panagariya (2015–2017)

Connection to this news: Lahiri's appointment underscores the government's intent to place an economist with multilateral institutional exposure at the helm of national policy advisory.

Key Facts & Data

NITI Aayog established: 1 January 2015
Planning Commission dissolved: 17 August 2014
Constitutional basis: None — executive resolution only (unlike Finance Commission: Article 280)
NITI Aayog Governing Council: All state CMs + LGs of UTs + PM as Chair
New Vice-Chairman: Ashok Kumar Lahiri (former Chief Economic Adviser to GoI)
New full-time member (health): Dr. M. Srinivas, Director, AIIMS Delhi
New full-time member (S&T): Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology
Retained member: Rajiv Gauba (former Cabinet Secretary)
NITI Aayog has no fund allocation powers — distinguishing it from the Finance Commission
NITI Aayog flagship: Aspirational Districts Programme, SDG India Index, Vision 2047