Who is Parameswaran Iyer? Know about Niti Aayog's new CEO

CHENNAI: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is set to leave the planning sector of the government on June 30, after a six-year-long term of heading the organisation. He will be replaced by Parameswaran Iyer, the former secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the force behind the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission. Iyer’s initial tenure will be for two years, according to a notification by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

A few things to know about the IAS officer:

• Parameswaran Iyer, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, took a voluntary retirement in 2009, to become the water resources manager at the World Bank, served as the Global lead for strategic initiatives at the World Bank.

• Highly trained strategist, 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 Abhiyan, the country-wide sanitation campaign to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management.

• Iyer's modus operandi to achieve the strict goals under the mission of building 110 million toilets in 5 years was unconventional and "non-bureaucratic" which increased efficiency and delivery and led to the success of the program.

• The sanitation specialist was also given the additional charge of another of the Prime Minister’s pet project, the Jal Jeevan Mission, with the goal of providing piped water supply to all households by 2024 through integrated water supply management at the grassroots, heading the department of drinking water.

• He resigned from his post of secretary of DoDWS and later went on to work with the World Bank in the US, in July 2020.

• Now, he returned to Indian Administration as the head of Indian government’s think tank NITI Aayog, taking charge from the end of the month of June.