Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has ceased to be an ex-officio member of the Planning Commission and been replaced by Minister of Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath.
“There is a reconstitution of the Planning Commission. That was done by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)”, Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
The commission’s secretary Sindhushree Khullar said this was being done in view of the added emphasis given by the government on urban development. “Schemes like MGNREGS are already taking care of the rural development,” she added.
The other ex-officio members of the commission are Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister M K Alagiri, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju and Minister of State for Planning Rajeev Shukla.