NITI Aayog replaces Planning Commission

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SME Times News Bureau | 02 Jan, 2015
The Narendra Modi government began the New Year replacing the 65-year- old Planning Commission with a new institution named NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, where the prime minister would continue as chairperson of the revamped body and have state chief ministers as part of the governing council.

"The institution will serve as a 'think tank' of the government - a directional and policy dynamo. NITI Aayog will provide governments at the central and state levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy," a union cabinet release said.

Modi, in a series of tweets, said with the NITI Aayog the government would bid "farewell to a 'one size fits all' approach towards development while the body also "celebrates India's diversity".

"A pro-people, pro-active and participative development agenda stressing on empowerment & equality is the guiding principle behind NITI Aayog," he said.

Noting that NITI Aayog "has been formed after a wide range of consultation with the various stakeholders including the chief ministers", he said it will "provide key inputs on various policy matters".

"A landmark change is the inclusion of all State CMs & LGs of UTs in the NITI Aayog. This will foster a spirit of cooperative federalism.

"Having served as a CM in the past, I am very much aware of the importance of actively consulting the states. NITI Aayog does precisely that," he said. Modi had indicated in his Independence Day speech that the Planning Commission was on its way out.

The NITI Aayog will have regional councils to "address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or a region. These will be formed for a specified tenure," the statement added.

Elaborating on the rationale for the revamping the planning body as the many forces transforming India, the government said the industry and service sectors have developed and are operating on a global scale now.

"To build on this foundation, new India needs an administration paradigm in which the government is an 'enabler' rather than a 'provider of first and last resort'. The role of the government as a 'player' in the industrial and service sectors has to be reduced," the statement said.

Earlier this month, in a meeting with chief ministers here, Modi said the Planning Commission should be replaced by an organisation that thinks creatively, strengthens the federal structure, and is able to energize governance at the state level.

Congress chief ministers had opposed the government's move to replace the Planning Commission with a new body.

The Congress slammed the move.

Party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: "The real issue is do you have a substantive meaningful program to reform the Planning Commission. If you simply want to abolish it because it is something which (first prime minister Jawaharlal) Nehru created for this country and you don't like Nehru or simply something which is run by the Congress for 60 years or you don't like the Congress, that is pitiable."

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said: "Mere changing this nomenclature, and this sort of gimmickry is not going to serve the purpose. Let's wait and see what the government is eventually planning."

A Janata Dal-United leader said that his party will not support the move as they feared that weaker states would be left behind in the development process.

The NITI Aayog will have the following 13 objectives:

** To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of states in the light of national objectives. The vision of the NITI Aayog will then provide a framework 'national agenda' for the prime minister and the chief ministers to provide impetus to.

** To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the states on a continuous basis, recognizing that strong states make a strong nation.

** To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government.

** To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy.

** To pay special attention to the sections of society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress.

** To design strategic and long-term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and monitor their progress and their efficacy. The lessons learnt through monitoring and feedback will be used for making innovative improvements, including necessary mid-course corrections.

** To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and international like-minded think tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions.

** To create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and other partners.

** To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.

** To maintain a state-of-the-art resource centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holders.

** To actively monitor and evaluate implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources so as to strengthen the probability of success and scope of delivery.

** To focus on technology upgradation and capacity building for implementation of programmes and initiatives.

** To undertake other activities as may be necessary in order to further the execution of the national development agenda, and the objectives mentioned above.