
Table of Contents
Background
- As our leaders were influenced by the communist clime of the erstwhile USSR, planning became ingrained in the Indian mind. For nearly six decades, the Planning Commission operated as the planning vehicle, focusing on a control and command strategy.
- On January 1, 2015, the Planning Commission was replaced by a new entity, NITI AAYYOG, with a focus on a ‘Bottom-Up’ approach to envision the vision of Maximum Governance, Minimal Government, mirroring the spirit of ‘Cooperative Federalism.’
Administrative Skeltal
- Chairperson: Prime Minister
- Vice-Chairperson: To be appointed by Prime-Minister
- Governing Council: Chief Ministers of all states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
- Regional Council: To address specific regional issues, Comprising Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors Chaired by Prime Minister or his nominee.
- Adhoc Membership: 2 member in ex-officio capacity from leading Research institutions on rotational basis.
- Ex-Officio membership: Maximum four from Union council of ministers to be nominated by Prime minister.
- Chief Executive Officer: Appointed by Prime-minister for a fixed tenure, in rank of Secretary to Government of India.
- Special Invitees: Experts, Specialists with domain knowledge nominated by Prime-minister.
NITI Aayog Hubs
- Team India Hub acts as interface between States and Centre.
- Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds the think-tank acumen of NITI Aayog.
The Aayog planned to come out with three documents — 3‑year action agenda, 7‑year medium-term strategy paper and 15-year vision document.
Importance
- The 65 year-old Planning Commission had become a redundant organization. It was relevant in a command economy structure, but not any longer.
- India is a diversified country and its states are in various phases of economic development along with their own strengths and weaknesses.
- In this context, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to economic planning is obsolete. It cannot make India competitive in today’s global economy.
Objectives
- 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 our society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress.
- 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
Challenges
- To demonstrate its policymaking prowess, the NITI Aayog must prioritise 13 objectives with a clear understanding of the differences between policy, planning, and strategy.
- NITI Aayog, more than the planning commission, requires freedom of various kinds with budgetary provisions not in terms of plan and non-plan expenditures, but in terms of revenue and capital expenditure, because a higher rate of increase in capital expenditure can eliminate infrastructural deficits at all levels of operation in the economy.
NITI Aayog | Planning Commission |
It serves as an advisory Think Tank. | It served as extra-constitutional body. |
It draws membership from a wider expertise. | It had limited expertise. |
It serves in spirit of Cooperative Federalism as states are equal partners. | States participated as spectators in annual plan meetings. |
Secretaries to be known as CEO appointed by Prime- Minister. | Secretaries were appointed through usual process. |
It focuses upon ‘Bottom-Up’ approach of Planning. | It followed a ‘Top-Down’ approach. |
It does not possess mandate to impose policies. | Imposed policies on states and tied allocation of funds with projects it approved. |
It does not have powers to allocate funds, which are vested in Finance Minister. | It had powers to allocate funds to ministries and state governments |
Way Forward
Planning decentralisation, but within a five-year plan framework. The bureaucratic inertia must be broken by specialising it and establishing performance-based accountability. Over time, NITI Aayog could emerge as a change agent, contributing to the government’s aim of improving governance and introducing innovative methods to improve public service delivery. NITI Aayog continues to be a shining example of a country’s efficient, transparent, innovative, and responsible government structure, with exemplary work ethics.