Modi appoints Balasubramaniam, Aniya as NITI Aayog members

Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, May 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the appointment of R Balasubramaniam and Joram Aniya as full-time members of NITI Aayog.

According to a notification issued in the Gazette of India, the appointments will take effect from the date they assume charge and will be governed by the same terms and conditions applicable to full-time members of the policy body.

Sources described Aniya’s appointment as a historic step, bringing representation from Arunachal Pradesh into national policymaking. Aniya, an academic and associate professor, is also a member of the Arunachal Pradesh Private Educational Regulatory Commission and has over 18 years of experience in teaching, research, and public policy.

She is the first woman from the Nyishi community to earn a PhD — and the first in Hindi in the state — and has contributed extensively to literature, culture, and indigenous knowledge systems, authoring and editing several books and research papers.

Balasubramaniam, a trained physician and public policy expert, is the founder of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) and the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM). He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.

Earlier, on April 24, the government reconstituted NITI Aayog and appointed Ashok Kumar Lahiri as Vice-Chairman. It also named Rajiv Gauba, K V Raju, Gobardhan Das, Abhay Karandikar, and M Srinivas as full-time members.

Modi extended his wishes to the newly appointed members, stating that NITI Aayog has emerged as a vital pillar in India’s policy-making architecture, promoting cooperative federalism, innovation, and long-term strategic thinking across sectors.