Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the reconstitution of the NITI Aayog on Thursday. The governing council of the policy think tank is scheduled to meet on June 15 for the first time after Modi government won a second term last month.

Rajiv Kumar has been retained as the Vice Chairman of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, according to a government statement. While VK Saraswat, Ramesh Chand and VK Paul will continue as members of the NITI Aayog, economist Bibek Debroy has been dropped from the team.

Moreover, Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah has been appointed as one of the ex-officio members of the NITI Aayog, along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, and MoS (Independent Charge) for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh have been named special invitees.

Amitabh Kant, who was the NITI Aayog CEO during the first term of Modi government, was missing from the list of names for the reconstituted policy think tank.

PM Narendra Modi will chair the meeting of NITI Aayog's Governing Council on June 15. The top body of the NITI Aayog includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories, along with several union ministers and government officials.

The top council of NITI Aayog is expected to discuss crucial matters like water management, agriculture and aspirational district programme in its meeting next week, reports said.