NITI Aayog

·       The NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was established as the successor to the planning commission. Which is a public policy think tank of the Government of India, established with the aim to achieve sustainable development goals with cooperative federalism by fostering the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.

·       On the 13th of August, 2014, Government scrapped the 65-year-old Planning Commission and announced that it would be replaced by NITI Aayog in 2015.

·       NITI Aayog was created by an executive resolution of the Government of India. Hence, it is also neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body.

Composition of NITI Aayog

·       The NITI Aayog comprises the following:

Ø  The Prime Minister as the Chairperson.

Ø  A Governing Council composed of Chief Ministers of all the States and Union territories with Legislatures and lieutenant governors of Union Territories (except Delhi and Puducherry).

Ø  Regional Councils composed of Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in the region to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or a region.

Ø  Full-time organizational framework composed of a Vice-Chairperson, four full-time members, two part-time members (from leading universities, research organizations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity), four ex-officio members of the Union Council of Ministers, a Chief Executive Officer (with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India) who looks after administration, and a secretariat.

Ø  Special Invitees: Experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the Prime Minister.

Objective

·       To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States.

·       To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on a continuous basis, recognising that strong States make a strong nation.

·       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 our 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 midcourse 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 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.

Function

·       NITI Aayog’s entire gamut of activities can be divided into four main heads:

Ø  Design policy and programme framework.

Ø  Foster co-operative federalism.

Ø  Monitoring and evaluation.

Ø  Think-tank, and Knowledge and Innovation Hub.

Specialized wings of NITI Aayog

Ø  Research Wing: It develops in-house sectoral expertise as a dedicated think tank of top notch domain experts, specialists and scholars.

Ø  Consultancy Wing: It provides a marketplace of whetted panels of expertise and funding, for the Central and State Governments to tap into matching their requirements with solution providers, public and private, national and international.

Ø  Team India Wing: It comprises of the representatives from every State and Ministry and serves as a permanent platform for national collaboration. Each representative ensures that every State/Ministry has a continuous voice and stake in the NITI Aayog and establishes a direct communication channel between the State/Ministry and NITI Aayog for all development related matters, as the dedicated liaison interface.