M A I N   N E W S

Montek is Planning Commission deputy chief
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 16
Oxford-educated economist and former Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia was today appointed Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission.

Mr Ahluwalia succeeds Mr K C Pant, who resigned soon after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power.

He will enjoy the rank of Cabinet Minister.

Apart from Mr Ahluwalia, the government has also appointed seven new members of the Commission.

The members are Kirit Parekh, former Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research, Mumbai, V L Chopra, former Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Balchandra Mungekar, Vice Chancellor, Mumbai University, Abhijit Sen, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Syeda Hamid, Member, National Commission for Women, B N Yugandhar, former Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Institute of Administration, Mussoorie, and Anwar-ul Hoda, former Deputy Director General, WTO, an official spokesperson said.

A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and a graduate from Delhi’s prestigious St Stephen’s College, Mr Ahluwalia was a key member of the original thinktank, when Dr Manmohan Singh, in his earlier avaatar as Finance Minister, launched the structural reforms process in 1991. He is at present serving at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He was first Economic Affairs Secretary and later became the Finance Secretary between 1991 and 1996 and also served as Finance Secretary when P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister in the erstwhile United Front (UF) government.

Mr Ahluwalia had recently called on Finance Minister P Chidambaram sparking off speculation about his possible return to the Government in a key economic position.