The Department of Personnel and Training announced on Friday that Former Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog. Iyer has been appointed for a term of two years.
“Iyer has been appointed for two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, on the same terms and conditions as were applicable in respect of Shri Amitabh Kant,” the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet said in a notification on Friday.
The newly appointed NITI Aayog CEO is also the brains behind the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a campaign to eradicate open defecation by constructing over 90 million toilets in rural India
Previous CEO
Kant was appointed as the CEO of the NITI Aayog on February 17, 2016, for two years. Since then, he got three extensions to the term. Kant is credited with identifying a long list of public sector enterprises for disinvestment and asset monetization.
He was instrumental in drafting the production-linked incentive scheme for over a dozen sectors and the national monetization pipeline which has laid a roadmap for the government over the next six years.
During his long stint at NITI Aayog, Kant spearheaded some of the key programs including the government’s electric mobility mission, the aspirational district program, the ease of doing the business program, the Start-up India program, and the island development program. He was currently working on the Circular Economy across six sectors.
Career
Iyer, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre and a well-known sanitation specialist, has been appointed the chief executive officer of Niti Aayog, after Amitabh Kant retires on June 30, for two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, as the order stated.
Iyer 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.
An inspirational meeting with the World Bank’s Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan in Dhaka. She encouraged us in @2030WRG to think big on the Water-Ag agenda along with Bank colleagues to help the government achieve transformational impact. @MercyTembon @WorldBankWater pic.twitter.com/nhokCPDYwC
— Param Iyer (@paramiyer_) June 15, 2022
Before he joined the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, in 2016, he worked in Vietnam, China, Egypt, Lebanon, and Washington for the World Bank.
In 2016, he was appointed by the Government of India to implement Swachh Bharat Mission, the country-wide sanitation campaign to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management.
In 2020, Iyer resigned from the position and returned to the United States to join the World Bank and be close to his family.
