The government on Friday appointed former drinking water and sanitation secretary Parameswaran Iyer the new chief executive officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog, as reported by the PTI.
Iyer, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre and a well-known sanitation specialist, has been appointed for a term of two years.
The Department of Personnel and Training announced his appointment.
His term will begin upon the completion of current CEO Amitabh Kant’s tenure on June 30, 2022.
Former Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer appointed Niti Aayog CEO : Govt order
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 24, 2022
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Parameswaran Iyer, IAS (UP), Retd. as Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog vice Shri Amitabh Kant upon completion of his tenure on 30.06.2022, for a period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, on the same terms and conditions as were applicable in respect of Shri Amitabh Kant,” read the official notification from the government.
Kant was appointed as the CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) on February 17, 2016, for a fixed two-year term. Kant was later given an extension till June 30, 2019.
His term was further extended for two years, till this month-end, in June 2019.
In June 2021, Kant received another one-year extension.
According to PTI report, Iyer was approached by the central government when he was working at the World Bank’s Hanoi office in Vietnam as programme leader and sanitation specialist in 2016 to take charge as the new boss at the drinking and sanitation department.
He had taken voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in 2009. He had also worked as a senior rural water sanitation specialist at the United Nations.