NITI Aayog offers 30% hike over PlanComm pay to attract talent

To attract talent, the government think-tank NITI Aayog has proposed paying over 30 per cent more than the pay scale offered by the erstwhile Planning Commission to young professionals on its payrolls.

NITI Aayog has replaced the decades-old Planning Commission and is being seen as one of the most ambitious projects of the Modi government to overhaul governance and policymaking practices in the country.

Inviting applications from ‘young professionals’, NITI Aayog has now offered salaries in the range of Rs 40,000-70,000 per month, along with an annual increment of Rs 5,000 in the monthly pay.

This is more than 30 per cent higher than the pay package of Rs 31,500-51,500 offered by the erstwhile Planning Commission for such young professionals.

Besides, NITI Aayog has also brought down the age limit for such positions to 32 years, from 40 years prescribed earlier by the Planning Commission.

The concept of hiring young professionals was introduced at the Planning Commission by its then Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in 2009.

An official said that the changes have been made to the hiring policy to attract fresh talent. NITI Aayog has started the recruitment process with hiring of 20 young professionals. In the erstwhile Plannning Commission, the number of such professionals could go up to 60 at a time.

The Aayog is also looking for a Chief Economist to conduct research on India's economic policy issues and to to build contacts with other institutions. The Chief Economist will be entrusted with the task of conducting research on contemporary and futuristic economic policy issues on India and its states.

The job profile would also include conducting workshops, building a research culture within NITI Aayog and promotion of contacts with outside scholars and institutions of distinctions.

NITI Aayog has said that the pay scale for the chief economist will be decided at the time of selection, depending upon the qualification and experience of the person.