NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India)

Yojana Aayog (Planning commission) is replaced by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). On 1 January 2015 formation of NITI Aayog was announced by the government of India. This commission comprises of CM’s of all states and lieutenant governors of union territories. The aim of NITI Aayog is to involve all the state government in the economic policies of our country. Unlike planning commission State governments are expected to play a more significant role in NITI Aayog. The success of the Niti Aayog lies in restoring the balance between the technical and political (federal) drivers of the planning process. The NITI Aayog, set up by a resolution of the Union Cabinet, will have a multi-tiered structure.

Following members shape the new body:

1. Chairperson: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi
2. Vice Chairperson: Arvind Panagariya
3. Ex-Officio Members: Maximum of four members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister – Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh
4. Special Invitees: Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Zubin Irani and Thawar Chand Gehlot
5. Full-time Members: Two full time members – Bibek Debroy & V. K. Saraswat
6. Governing Council: All Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories
7. CEO: To be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India (Sindhushree Khullar is the first CEO)

The main objective of NITI Aayog is to be emerged as a “think-tank” that will provide Governments at the central and state levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy.

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

Here are few important points related to NITI Aayog:

1. The institution will serve as a ‘think tank’ of the government – a directional and policy dynamo. NITI Aayog will seek to provide a critical directional and strategic input into the development process.
2. The body will have a Vice Chairperson and CEO in addition to five full-time members and two part-time members, while four union ministers would serve as ex-officio members.
3. 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.
4. It will also have experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the Prime Minister.
5. It will also seek to put an end to slow and tardy implementation of policy, by fostering better Inter-Ministry coordination and better Centre-State coordination. It will help evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, and foster cooperative federalism, recognizing that strong states make a strong nation.
6. It will develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans to the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government. It will ensure special attention to the sections of society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress.
7. It will create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and partners. It will offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectorial and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.
8. In addition, the NITI Aayog will monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes, and focus on technology upgradation and capacity building.

Through the above, the NITI Aayog will aim to accomplish the following objectives and opportunities:

• An administration paradigm in which the Government is an “enabler” rather than a “provider of first and last resort.”
• Progress from “food security” to focus on a mix of agricultural production, as well as actual returns that farmers get from their produce.
• Ensure that India is an active player in the debates and deliberations on the global commons.
• Ensure that the economically vibrant middle-class remains engaged, and its potential is fully realized.
• Leverage India’s pool of entrepreneurial, scientific and intellectual human capital.
• Incorporate the significant geo-economic and geo-political strength of the Non-Resident Indian Community.
• Use urbanization as an opportunity to create a wholesome and secure habitat through the use of modern technology.
• Use technology to reduce opacity and potential for misadventures in governance.

The NITI Aayog aims to enable India to better face complex challenges, through the following:

• Leveraging of India’s demographic dividend, and realization of the potential of youth, men and women, through education, skill development, elimination of gender bias, and employment
• Elimination of poverty, and the chance for every Indian to live a life of dignity and self-respect
• Reddressal of inequalities based on gender bias, caste and economic disparities
• Integrate villages institutionally into the development process
• Policy support to more than 50 million small businesses, which are a major source of employment creation
• Safeguarding of our environmental and ecological assets

How NITI Aayog is different from Planning Commission?

Recent Initiatives of NITI Aayog

• The NITI Aayog has drawn up a plan for creating an institutional framework for artificial intelligence (AI) in the country. It has circulated a cabinet note to provide Rs 7,500 crore in funding for creation of cloud computing platform called AIRAWAT and research institutes

References

http://niti.gov.in/