Understanding the First Vice-Chairperson of NITI Aayog

The question asks about the first person to hold the position of Vice-Chairperson of NITI Aayog.

What is NITI Aayog?

NITI Aayog, which stands for National Institution for Transforming India, is a policy think tank of the Government of India. It was established with the aim to achieve sustainable development goals with cooperative federalism by involving State Governments of India in economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.

NITI Aayog replaced the erstwhile Planning Commission on January 1, 2015.

Structure of NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog has a specific structure:

• The Prime Minister of India serves as the Chairperson.
• There is a Vice-Chairperson appointed by the Prime Minister.
• It includes a Governing Council comprising the Chief Ministers of all States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
• It has Regional Councils to address specific issues, comprising Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors.
• There is a full-time organizational framework which includes a Vice-Chairperson, Members, Part-time Members, and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Identifying the First Vice-Chairperson

The first person to be appointed as the Vice-Chairperson of NITI Aayog after its formation was Arvind Panagariya.

Dr. Arvind Panagariya is an Indian-American economist who served as the first Vice-Chairperson from January 2015 to August 2017.

Let's look at the options provided:

• Arun Shourie
• Raghuram Rajan
• Arvind Panagariya
• Arvind Subramanian

Based on the history of NITI Aayog's formation and appointments, Arvind Panagariya was indeed the first Vice-Chairperson.

Therefore, the correct answer is Arvind Panagariya.