Who appoints the Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, The Prime Minister of India. NITI Aayog's Chairperson is the Prime Minister ex officio, and the Prime Minister also appoints the Vice-Chairperson — in practice a distinguished economist or policy expert given the rank of a Union Cabinet Minister. NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was itself set up by a Cabinet resolution (1 January 2015) to replace the Planning Commission; unlike a statutory or constitutional body, its appointments run entirely through the Prime Minister's own office.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The President has no role in NITI Aayog's internal appointments — NITI Aayog is a Cabinet-resolution body under the Prime Minister's Council of Ministers, not a Presidential appointment like the CAG or the UPSC Chairman.  (c) The Vice-President's constitutional role is to chair the Rajya Sabha and stand next-in-line to the President — no function within NITI Aayog.  (d) The Speaker presides over the Lok Sabha; has no appointing power over any NITI Aayog post.

Concept: NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015 by a Cabinet resolution — a non-statutory, non-constitutional policy think tank, not an executing/fund-allocating body like its predecessor. Its top structure is Prime-Minister-centred: the PM is Chairperson ex officio, and the PM appoints the Vice-Chairperson, the full-time Members, and the CEO (fixed tenure, Secretary-to-Government rank).

State PCS 2022 Q27 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

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