Parameswaran Iyer, force behind Swachh Bharat success, named NITI Aayog CEO

Parameswaran Iyer, former secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation who spearheaded the Swachh Bharat Mission, has been appointed new CEO of NITI Aayog. He will replace Amitabh Kant, who took charge of the apex public policy think tank on February 17, 2016, as its second CEO. Kant will demit office on June 30, 2022.

The official order said, Iyer has been appointed to the position for two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier on the same terms and conditions as were applicable for Kant.

A 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Iyer is a well-known sanitation specialist and best known for spearheading Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s flagship scheme — the Swachh Bharat Mission — between 2016 and 2020.

Iyer had taken voluntary retirement from the service in 2009. He also worked as a senior rural water sanitation specialist at the United Nations.

Kant, the outgoing NITI Aayog CEO, during his six-year tenure, has spearheaded several key programmes and policies of the Centre, including Digital India, National Monetisation Pipeline, disinvestment, Aspirational Districts Programme, and National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage.

In his long career spanning almost four decades, Kant, a 1980-batch IAS officer, has been the force behind some of the highly successful initiatives, such as Incredible India, Startup India, and God’s Own Country.

Kant is also credited for developing state rankings on various social and economic indicators.

One major impactful intervention that the NITI Aayog made in the past few years under the guidance of Kant was developing the framework for production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes.

The Aayog’s industry vertical, in consultation with ministries and departments concerned, anchored the introduction of a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in 10 key sectors (in addition to the three sectors approved earlier) for five years.

These schemes were approved by the Union Cabinet on November 11, 2020.In April this year, the Central government appointed economist Suman Berry as the third vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog, replacing Rajiv Kumar.

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