Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday cleared the induction of Planning Commission member Mihir Shah and natural resource management expert Ashish Mondal into the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC).
Simultaneously, M. S. Swaminathan, agricultural scientist and nominated Rajya Sabha MP; Madhav Gadgil, retired academician from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore; and Harsh Mander, bureaucrat–turned activist who played a key role in many NAC initiatives, were dropped.
Economist Jean Dreze, who had strongly advocated universal food security, himself dropped out of the NAC after the Council had completed its work on the National Food Security Bill.
Another member, Ram Dayal Munda, passed away in September 2011.
Dr. Shah is Co-Founder of Samaj Pragati Sahayog, one of India's largest grass roots initiatives for water and livelihood security working with its 122 partners on one million acres of land across 72 districts in 12 States.
Head of NGO
Mr. Mondal heads the Bhopal-based Action for Social Development.
The NAC, which was to meet on June 29, will now meet on July 6, sources in the NAC said.
