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Newly appointed Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Ashok Lahiri, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, a day after assuming charge, marking his first official engagement in the role.
Lahiri, who was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the government's apex policy think tank on Friday, held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, signalling the beginning of his tenure at a time when India is navigating a complex global economic environment. While details of the meeting were not officially disclosed, the interaction assumes significance as NITI Aayog plays a key role in shaping India's economic policy framework and driving reforms across sectors. The new Niti Aayog team includes two eminent experts hailing from West Bengal - senior economist Dr Ashok Lahiri as Vice Chairperson and Scientist Dr Gobardhan Das as Member, sources said on Friday. Dilip Mandal, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, also congratulated Lahiri on his new role. Posting on his X account, he said, "India's top economist, the die-hard Bengali Dr. Ashok Lahiri, who prepares khichdi prasad for the religious event of Ram Puja, will now be a key figure at NITI Aayog (formerly the Planning Commission)." "He will guide how the country's policies are shaped. This is a good selection by Prime Minister @narendramodi," he added. With this, Bengal once again finds two of its prodigal sons in the top echelons of the Indian policy- making circle, marking another milestone in the state's rich legacy of seminal contributions to scholarship and nation-building, the sources said. In his new role as NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson, Ashok Lahiri will steer the progress towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Viksit Bharat. Amongst India's most experienced economists with a career spanning over four decades, Dr Lahiri has served multiple important roles across the policy spectrum, from Chief Economic Adviser to Finance Commission Member, Asian Development Bank, World Bank and the IMF. An alumnus of Delhi School of Economics and Presidency University, Dr Lahiri has been "a proud Kolkatan, and leading Bengali Bhodrolok luminary" championing the cause of Bengal's development and progress. Dr Gobardhan Das is a celebrated Molecular Science Professor, specializing in Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Cell Biology over a scientific career of nearly three decades. He is internationally recognised for his research on the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. Having led cutting-edge research across the world including at Yale University and Houston Methodist Hospital in the USA, and KwaZulu-Natal University and National Research Foundation in South Africa, he chose to return home to serve in his motherland. An alumnus of Viswa-Bharati University, Dr Das went onto become a Professor in JNU, and is presently leading the development of IISER Bhopal as its Director. Dr Das's professional excellence and global achievements are even more inspiring when seen in the context of his inspirational personal life story of overcoming unimaginable odds, as a true son of the soil. Born to Hindu Dalit refugees from Bangladesh who had to leave their everything behind to escape persecution, Dr Das grew up in very challenging conditions in Bengal. With his father being a poor farmer, he had to study under street lamps as a student. He also suffered through the horror of losing 17 members of his family in riots in West Bengal. His steadfast commitment to nation-building through all of this, will now serve as a ray of hope and inspiration for countless across Bengal and the nation at large. NITI Aayog serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalysing economic development and fostering cooperative federalism through the involvement of State Governments in the economic policymaking process using a bottom-up approach. (ANI)
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