The HRD ministry has appointed a new nine-member panel, headed by space scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, to work on a New Education Policy (NEP), sources said.

The Prakash Javadekar-led HRD ministry has chosen experts and educationists from wide-ranging backgrounds to be part of the panel that is expected to recast India's education policy.

Besides Kasturirangan, who headed India's space agency ISRO, the panel includes former IAS officer K J Alphonse Kanamthanam. He had played a key role in helping Kerala's Kottayam and Ernakulam districts achieve 100 percent literacy, sources said.

Ram Shanker Kureel, vice chancellor of the Baba Saheb Ambedkar University of Social Sciences, Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, who has wide experience in the field of agriculture sciences and management, has also been appointed.

Dr M K Shridhar, former member secretary of the Karnataka State Innovation Council, Dr T V Kattimani, an expert on language communication, Dr Mazhar Asif, professor of Persian at Guwahati University, and former director of education, Uttar Pradesh, Krishan Mohan Tripathi also bring a wealth of experience to the panel, the sources said.

Besides, the committee also comprises mathematician Manjul Bhargava from Princeton University and Vasudha Kamat, former vice chancellor of Mumbai's SNDT University.

"The panel has been appointed keeping in mind that the members bring expertise related to the diverse areas of education. Significantly, the panel also reflects the diversity of the country as the members belong to different sections as well as regions," an official said.

This diversity, the ministry hopes, would help the committee understand the varied issues that have to be kept in mind for the formulation of such a key policy document, he added.

"The panelists belong to different age groups which should be helpful as they would be able to bring experience, innovation and also global exposure which are so vital for such an important policy formulation."

The HRD ministry had a couple of years ago formed a panel under former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian on the New Education Policy. Sources said inputs from the Subramanian panel report would also be utilised.