Parameswaran Iyer, former Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Appointed as the new CEO of NITI Aayog on Friday, According to a government order, Iyer was selected to replace Amitabh Kant, who will retire on June 30.
Kant, who was appointed as CEO in 2016, will leave the government think-tank after a tenure of six years. His term was extended by one year in June 2021. Meanwhile, Aiyar, who is behind the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission, will take over the reins for two years.
Who is Parameswaran Iyer?
63-year-old Iyer, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is a renowned sanitation expert. After his 17 years of service as an IAS, Iyer resigned in 2009. He later returned in 2016 as the Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (D0DWS).
Iyer was born in Srinagar and his father was an Indian Air Force officer. He went to St. Stephen’s College and also represented India in the Junior Davis Cup.
The newly appointed NITI Aayog CEO is also the brain behind the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a campaign to end open defecation in rural India by building over 90 million toilets.
He resigned from his position as Secretary of DoDWS in July 2020, and continues to work with the World Bank in the United States.
Iyer previously worked at the United Nations as Senior Rural Water Sanitation Specialist between April 1998 and February 2006. He has also worked with the Mayawati government of Uttar Pradesh in the field of education.