Sonia Gandhi appointed National Advisory Council chairperson

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was today appointed chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC), four years after she quit the post in the wake of the office of profit controversy.

Gandhi, who is also the chairperson of the ruling UPA, will enjoy the rank of cabinet minister and her appointment has been made with immediate effect, an official spokesman said.

Her tenure would be co-terminus with that of the NAC.

Gandhi would nominate other members of the council and their tenure would be for one year from the date of their appointment and it could be extended.

Under the special provisions, an MP being appointed as a member of the NAC, he or she cannot draw any perk, allowance
or remuneration from the council, the spokesperson said.

The council has been the brainchild of the Congress president and it was first set up after UPA-I came to power in 2004. The NAC was set up as an interface with civil society with regard to the implementation of Government's National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).

While Gandhi resigned from the first NAC on March 23, 2006 as well as her Lok Sabha seat in the wake of the office of profit controversy, she was re-elected to Lok Sabha from her Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh on May 15 the same year.

The term of the first NAC ended on March 31, 2008. Gandhi had quit the NAC in 2006 after the opposition alleged that she had violated the `office of profit' principle by taking up the post and the benefits that go with it.

The opposition had cited the case of film star-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan who lost her Rajya Sabha seat on the ground that she had breached the rule requiring MPs not to hold offices of profit during their tenure.

Subsequently, Parliament passed the Office of Profit Bill that exempted 56 posts, including the chairperson of NAC, from being considered office of profit.

The council has been revived at a time when the issues of Food Security Bill, Communal Violence Bill and the proposed national law on health and water are engaging the attention of the government.

The Congress leadership has begun shortlisting names for Gandhi's new team in the Council.

The first NAC had played a role in the enactment of the Right to Information Act, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme — a pro-rural poor measure — and the Forest Rights Act to give land titles to traditional forestdwellers.

The first NAC comprised distinguished professionals drawn from diverse fields of development activity who serve in their individual capacities.

Through the NAC, the government has access not only to their expertise and experience but also to a larger network of research organisations, NGOs and social action and advocacy groups.

The Council has earlier made detailed recommendations to the government in the areas of priority identified in the NCMP
and to provide independent feedback on the impact of action initiated in various sectors.

Today's announcement said the salary, allowances and other terms and conditions of the Chairperson and members shall be such as the government may by order specify from time to time.

The chairperson of the NAC shall be entitled to the same salary, pay, allowances and other facilities to which a member of the Union council of ministers is entitled.

Members shall draw such salary and allowances and the Central government may by order determine from time to time.