Panagariya quits as NITI Aayog vice-chairman

Mukesh Ranjan

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 1

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya has decided to quit his position to return to academia.

He will leave office on  September 1.

Although the reason for his decision is still unconfirmed, power circles are rife with speculations about his dissatisfaction over progress of some central government policy proposals.

The 62-year old economist, whose tenure with the central government has seen him at odds with RSS affiliates — who have him pegged down as a market economist — was a professor at Columbia University before he was appointed to the central government's NITI Aayog and will return the US.

However, a source close to him has clarified the the economist hadn't resigned, but had instead asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to relieve him of his responsilibities so he could go back to the university. The source claims that the university has refused to extend his sabbatical.