2 min readNew DelhiMay 2, 2026 09:59 PM IST
Days after reconstituting the NITI Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday approved the appointment of Dr R Balasubramaniam and Dr Joram Aniya as full-time members of the think tank.
With the two new additions, the total number of full-time members of NITI Aayog will now rise to seven.
While Balasubramaniam has served as a member of Capacity Building Commission and authored the book, ‘Power Within: The Leadership Legacy of Narendra Modi’; Aniya is an academician and member of the Arunachal Pradesh Private Educational Regulatory Commission, with over 18 years of experience in teaching, research and public policy engagement.
Calling Aniya’s appointment “historic”, an official of the NITI Aayog said she is the first woman from the Nyishi community to earn a PhD, and also the first doctorate in Hindi language in Arunachal Pradesh. She has also authored and edited many books on Nyishi literature and culture, along with numerous research publications.
On April 24, the government appointed a new vice-chairman and replaced four of the five full-time members of the premier policy think tank. Eminent economist Ashok Lahiri has replaced vice-chairman Suman Berry, who was serving in the post since April 2022. The other new members include Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, and Dr M Srinivas, director, AIIMS Delhi, a government notification said.
This is the first major revamp of the NITI Aayog since its inception in 2015, when it had replaced the Nehruvian Planning Commission.