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Former Planning Commission Secretary Sindhushree Khullar was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed NITI Aayog on Saturday.
Khullar, a retired IAS officer, has been appointed on contract basis for a period of one year from January 1, 2015, an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training said. Khullar, a 1975 batch union territory cadre IAS officer, had taken over as Secretary Planning Commission in April 2012. NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) has replaced 65-year-old Planning Commission.
Noted economist Arvind Panagariya has been appointed as the first Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog. Economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat have already been appointed as full-time members by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is the Chairman of the body. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh have been appointed as ex-officio members while Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Zubin Irani and Thaawar Chand Gehlot are the special invitees.
