Parameswaran Iyer appointed as CEO of NITI Aayog

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's term will begin upon the completion of current CEO Amitabh Kant's tenure on June 30, 2022.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Parameswaran Iyer, lAS (UP:81), 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.

Born in Srinagar, the 63-year-old is an IAS officer from the 1981 batch of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is an alumnus of The Doon School in Dehradun and St. Stephen's College, Delhi. 

Iyer took voluntary retirement from the Indian Civil Services in 2009. In the same year, in became the water resources manager at the World Bank. In 2016, he joined the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation as its Secretary. He had also worked as a senior rural water sanitation specialist at the United Nations.

In 2016, the government appointed Iyer to implement its Swachh Bharat Mission. In 2021, Iyer resigned as Secretary of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation at the Jal Shakti Ministry.