NEW DELHI: The Centre announced the appointment of economist Rajiv Kumar as new vice-chairman of Niti Aayog on Saturday , opting for a homegrown technocrat to run the government's top policy think tank. He will take over from Arvind Panagariya, who is returning to Columbia University at the end of the month.A senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, Kumar has been involved in the selection of financial sector regulators, such as the RBI governor and Sebi chief, and is seen to be in tune with BJP's economic ideology . He was among a handful of economists to have backed demonetisation at a time when most of his peers were highly critical of the move.Vinod Paul, a professor of paediatrics at AIIMS, has also been appointed member of Niti Aayog, an agency report said. Currently , the think tank has three members -Bi bek Debroy , V K Saraswat and Ramesh Chand.Kumar is also chancellor of the Gokhale Institute of Economics and Politics in Pune and the founding director of Pahle India Foundation, a nonprofit research organisation specialising in policy-oriented research and analysis.The immediate task before the Aayog is to prepare a seven-year strategy paper and 15-year vision for the economy . He has also worked in the finance and industry ministries in the past.

Source: Times of India August 05, 2017 23:48 UTC