John V. Lindsay, mayor-elect of New York City, Saturday appointed John Kenneth Galbraith, Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics to a task force which will study New York's antipoverty program.

The panel will begin its hearings in two or three weeks, Galbraith told the CRIMSON in a telephone interview last night. It will present its findings to Lindsay around the first of January, he said.

Lindsay was highly critical of the program throughout his campaign. It had been "slow in getting started, somewhat political, and its energies had been too diffuse," Galbraith pointed out. He added that the program is still very young and "still in the process of getting started."

Participation of Poor

The New York Times reported Sunday that Lindsay is anxious to obtain "maximum feasible participation" of the poor in the program. Residents of the areas in which the program is active will be interviewed at the hearings to learn their reactions to and opinions of the antipoverty projects.

Galbraith, too, believes that one of the most important aspects of an antipoverty program is "to bring those directly involved into the program." He said that he had thought about it a great deal, but declined to make any specific comments on possible ways of doing this.